


Hide

by comeon_toparadise



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-06-05 13:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 58,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15172121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comeon_toparadise/pseuds/comeon_toparadise
Summary: Changbin is half demon, half human.Felix is fully human.





	1. Hide

**Author's Note:**

> Guys this is cross posted on my wattpad account -BBINSUAL
> 
> Hope you guys like this

_"i'm hideous"_

 

_"i know you aren't"_

 

-

 

changbin is used to it. the stares, the judgement, and the disdain at how he looks. so he hides.

 

when a family moves into the house opposite his, changbin doesn't care too much about it. they're just new people to hide away from again.

 

but he starts to get bothered when the family's son wants to know how he looks like.

 

-

 


	2. hide ; i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin meets Felix.

It was happening again.

It started as a few confused glances, but then it proceeded to full on staring.

Changbin knew better than to get angry. The little girl staring at him was just that; a little girl. Children didn't know or care about social etiquettes yet, but that didn't stop the half demon boy from getting slightly annoyed with the amount of looks he had gotten from the girl for the past fifteen minutes.

Yes, Changbin was half demon, half human, but his looks didn't show that. Everyone thought he was a full demon, and in this part of town, it wasn't uncommon to see other creatures and hybrids apart from humans, but yet still, Changbin was still subjected to jests and teases from most of the inhabitants.

He knew fully well that it wasn't because he was something else other than human. No, it was because he was half a creature that didn't fit beauty standards and was considered grotesque by the majority of the population.

It was a fact that demons were not liked, and they weren't nice to look at either.

The other hybrids, specifically the fairies and the angels, didn't get as much backlash from humans as the demons got. Why? Because they were endowed with godly good looks. It was rare to see an ugly fairy or angel, and people usually praised them for their outward appearance.

The town Changbin was lucky enough to be born into was extremely shallow, and it wasn't afraid of showing that.

Changbin looked out of the window of the bus he was in, and subtly pulled up the black mask covering half of his face up to the top of his nose. While doing so, he took sight of his hands, and he internally winced, despite being used to seeing them almost everyday of his life.

Some parts of his hands were shaded a light pink hue with thickened skin around the knuckle area, and they were rough to touch and looked ghastly. His fingernails looked more like claws and curved inwards, which made it a bit hard for Changbin to write at times.

The girl was still watching, and the tall lady seated next to her (her mother maybe) was doing nothing to stop it. Maybe she didn't notice it, or maybe she did. It wasn't rare for others to hate on demons because of how they looked, so she was probably enjoying the fact that her daughter was making it super obvious that he wasn't normal.

The other people were minding their own business, so why wasn't the girl minding hers?

Changbin's grip on his backpack tightened until he was sure his nails would pierce the material. He almost wished that he hadn't taken a public bus to school, but then he realized that he'd take this over the taunts he got from his school mates on the bus any day.

Changbin tried so hard not to watch the girl, because he didn't want her to freak out and run away or something, but it proved very difficult. She was waving and grinning at him, trying to get his attention and succeeding.

He snuck a peek at her, and he had been right about her smiling at him. She seemed like a pleasant and nice little girl, and the fact that she smiled at him made her better than all those people who secretly or outwardly made fun of him when he was around.

Her smile didn't last long though.

Once she made direct eye contact with him, her eyes widened and her face transformed into one that held pure fear. She was afraid of him. He was a monster in her eyes.

His black pupils with red-rimmed irises must've frightened her. He'd forgotten to bring his shades today.

Changbin quickly averted his eyes, but the girl had started crying, gripping unto her mother for dear life.

The people on the bus became startled because of her cries, and the girl's mother was glaring holes into Changbin's head.

"Mommy, h-he's scary..." the little girl whimpered.

Changbin was glad the bus was nearing its stop. He needed to get out of there as fast as possible.

The bus eventually came to a stop, and the half demon stood up on his feet and passed by the lady and her child.

"Don't worry, sweetie. _It's_ just a demon, okay? I won't let it hurt you..."

She'd obviously said it to make Changbin hear it loud and clear. He had been referred to as an 'it', and it highly angered him.

However, he didn't utter a word as he hopped off the bus and walked the remainder of his way to his school. His first class was going to start soon, and he okay with that. The earlier he was, the more time he'd spend by himself doing nothing. Clearly, he didn't have any friends, and he'd eventually learned to live with it.

He just wanted to attend his classes and finish the day quickly, so he could go back home and hide away from the judgemental words and stares sent his way.

_______

 

The first half of his classes went by without _too_ many interruptions. His classmates acted like dicks, which wasn't unusual, but they didn't go out of their way to harm him or anything. They, for the most part, ignored him, and Changbin was glad.

 

It was now lunch period, and Changbin retreated to the steps at the back of the school compound to eat, because he wouldn't dare step into the cafeteria. It would be basically a death sentence if he did. 

 

He opened up the meal that his mother had prepared for him, and he loved how hot it felt in his mouth. His mother knew how he liked everything warm, so she always outdid herself when she made him food, and made sure he wore thick clothing so that he wouldn't get cold.

 

Changbin felt safe and hidden from everything as he ate in silence by himself. He was even able to pull down his mask without having people point at him and laugh at how weird his skin looked, or at how sharp his canines were when he talked.

 

He didn't feel the need to take off his beanie though. The autumn air was rather cold, and the small reddish horns protuding from his head were rather sensitive to temperature. 

 

As always, after Changbin was done eating, he put the food container away, brought up the mask that covered half of his face, and thought about _anything_ , really.

 

Today, it was about the incident that happened inside the bus. 

 

Changbin usually avoided thinking about the stuff done to him by humans, because it only made him depressed and frustrated because he couldn't do anything about it, but he couldn't take his mind off what had happened earlier today.

 

The girl's mother had called him it. 'It' was frequently given to inanimate objects and animals, which meant that that was what Changbin was in the woman's eyes.

 

That was what he was in a majority of people's eyes. A non-living thing. An _animal_. 

 

But Changbin wasn't an animal. He had human genes like other humans, but it just so happened that he was a demon too.

 

Why couldn't they see that?

 

Changbin glanced at his wristwatch. There was only twenty minutes left of lunch, which was less than he'd initally expected. 

 

_Great_ , the half demon thought. He only had a class left after lunch, and then he was free to go home. 

  
A crunching sound cut off Changbin's train of thought. He suddenly became alert, because the person that was coming towards the back of the school could be anyone. It was unlikely that any staff members would step inside the area, but he knew that the students were capable of doing so.

Changbin's heart drummed violently against his chest, and hurriedly hid behind the cement staircase he had been leaning against earlier.

The footsteps increased in their intensity, and Changbin made sure he was well hidden from whoever that could've been. His breathing was ragged and quick, and his hands held on to the staircase in fear and worry. He looked at the intruder without making his face known, and spotted a fairly tall male pacing around the compound while running a hand through his caramel coloured hair.

He was clearly a human, Changbin observed. He didn't have anything to suggest that he was another creature, and he didn't look like he possessed any magical abilities either.

His face was also unfamiliar. Changbin didn't spend his time looking at people's faces, but he _knew_ that the male student had to be new.

The stranger took out something from his pocket, which turned out to be a phone, and angrily pressed the screen repeatedly.

" _Fucking pick up_ ," the male muttered. He was definitely speaking a foreign language, and Changbin knew it was English. He understood what the stranger just said, and he didn't know how to feel about that.

" _Finally--I can't do this anymore! I know I've just started school here, but everyone speaks Korean and I don't know anyone--Mom, I'm not starting anything. I want to go back to Australia! I miss my friends--Mom_ \--" The boy paused, before pressing the phone again. His mother didn't seem like she picked up his calls, and he shoved his phone back into his pocket and kicked away a rather large pebble in frustration. " _God!_ "

Now, Changbin didn't like this guy intruding in on his alone time, but he wasn't in the mood to face the human today. Or any day, for that matter. The stranger looked unapproachable from the back, with the way he silently cursed and fisted his hair. It didn't seat well with Changbin, because who knew if the guy was looking for him to beat him up or something?

The unknown male turned around to face Changbin's direction, and the half demon didn't expect the change he just witnessed.

The human looked younger, with doe looking eyes and a pretty set of lips. He was extremely good-looking, which shocked the half demon because only angels could look that good.

In his state of shock, Changbin had let out a rather loud gasp, cacthing the human's attention almost immediately.

"Hello?" The stranger had reverted back to Korean. "Who's there?"

 _Shit!_ Changbin thought as he bit his lip inside his mask. Lunch was going to end soon, so he had to make a run for it.

"Hello?"

Changbin slung his backpack's straps over his shoulders, positioning himself to run.

The human was just a few feet away now. He was close enough for Changbin to notice the brown freckles that painted his cheeks and nose. The half demon was sure the guy had seen him too, so he had to get away before the human got too close.

"Um--hi?" The freckled boy greeted after a couple of seconds.

Changbin stared at the ground, before pushing his way through the taller male and sprinting towards the front of the school until his lungs burned and he couldn't run anymore.

He had no choice but to start running again, because he didn't want to be late for his last class for the day. For a while, Changbin had forgotten about the freckled human, and thought that he'd never see him again.

_______

 

The half demon had thought wrong. 

 

Because there the guy was, seated in the middle of the Literature classroom with other students flocking around him.

 

He'd introduced himself as Lee Felix and said he was from Australia. He didn't really have to say anything else to make the girls swoon and the guys jealous. 

 

Changbin was not wrong when he said Felix looked like he had genes of an angel, because everyone paid attention to him like he was one. He'd just came today, and he'd already gotten people's attention simply because he looked good.

 

Felix looked overwhelmed with the attention, but Changbin knew he'd get used to it soon. Felix would soak up all the attention and start to think that he was better than everyone else just because he was attractive, and start acting like those self-centered angels and fairies.

 

Felix didn't notice him throughout the class, which Changbin had expected since he sat at the last seat with no partner, far away from everyone else. 

 

Teachers didn't call on the half demon to answer any questions, and they didn't scold him for wearing beanies and masks to school either. They tended to avoid him in general, and Changbin could read their minds from their facial expressions whenever he passed them in the halls or in front of the school.

 

_It's good he's wearing that beanie and mask. They'll cover up that horrendous face of his._

 

Changbin was used to those kinds of comments, so it started not to get to him at some point. It was better to ignore them and pretend that they didn't exist, than to face them head on and find out that he could do nothing to change the reality that he was a monster in everyone's eyes.

 

_______

 

Changbin was more than glad when class was over, and he quickly put his books inside his bag and zipped it up, leaving the nearly empty classroom.

 

He took another public bus home, glad that no incidents occurred, and ran inside his home to see his mother inside the kitchen.

 

His mother was a petite human who was nice to everyone and made people around her happy. She was also beautiful, and Changbin would've taken her face if he wasn't half demon.

 

Since he was a hybrid, he didn't have the tall heights that demons usually got, so Changbin was short like his mother instead. But that was where the similarities stopped.

 

"Hi Changbin," his mother greeted once she saw him. She walked over to her son and gave him a hug.

 

"Good afternoon, mom. I--you're suffocating me," Changbin groaned, letting out a sigh of relief when his mother finally released him from her hug.

 

"How was school?"

 

"Fine." Changbin knew she knew school was not fine. But what could they do?

 

"That's good. I'm preparing your favourite dish for dinner," she announced before taking off Changbin's beanie and ruffling his hair, despite his protests. His mother made sure to always show how much she loved him, and always tried to protect her son from the people who liked to ostracize her son, but it couldn't be avoided.

 

Changbin knew of all those times his mother's friends and collegues would ask her if he was really her child, or if he was adopted. They'd compare him to their children, and it sucked.

 

"Thank you," Changbin smiled within his mask, "I'm gonna head to my room and do some homework."

 

"That's good, honey."

 

As soon as Changbin got into his room, he threw his bag on his bed and lied next to it.

 

_Don't be sad._

 

_Don't cry._

 

Maybe Changbin deserved all this that was happening to him, but his mother _certainly_ did not. She'd passed through too much to endure people saying bad things about her or Changbin, and the half demon often wished that he wasn't her son so that she could be happier.

 

_______

 

Night quickly came, spreading through the sky like inky tendrils as sparkling stars gathered with each other and the translucent moon to shine light on the buildings below.

 

Changbin grinned as he stared up at them. He liked looking at the sky at night. They made him feel safe and covered, and they didn't judge or laugh at him because of how he looked. No, they just shone brighter and brighter.

 

Executive thumps were heard inside the house next door to his, and the curtained window opposite Changbin's own lit up. A shadow appeared, nearing the curtains, and immediately the half demon grabbed his face mask and put it on. 

 

The curtain was pulled open and the window was pushed up a second after, revealing a familiar person's face. Changbin didn't recognize him at first, but then the freckles gave it away.

 

"Hello _neighbour_ ," Felix said rather loudly against the backdrop of the silent neighbourhood.

 

Changbin decided to play naive. "Who are you?"

 

"The guy you pushed away after he greeted you," Felix answered, jutting his head through the opened window. "And for your information, my shoulder still hurts."

 

"Sorry..." Changbin's mask made his voice muffled, but it wasn't like he could take it off. He wasn't even supposed to be talking with Felix.

 

Felix smiled. "It's fine. What's up with that mask anyway? Is that a fashion style or something?"

 

Changbin scratched the back of his nape. "Maybe? I--uh--have to go to sleep."

 

"Really? But it's early. Are you one of those nerds that sleep early so they can wake up at the _right_ time? 'Cause that would be hilarious."

 

Felix obviously liked to talk a lot, and most of what he said Changbin couldn't understand because he spoke too fast.

 

"Goodnight."

 

"Wait!" Felix exclaimed, almost falling off from the window. "...What's your name?"

 

_Demon. Monster. Ugly. Evil. It. I have a lot of names_ , Changbin thought.

 

"I'm Changbin. Seo Changbin."

 

"Seo Changbin, I'm Felix. Lee Felix."

  
"I know. Goodnight."

"Wait--"

Changbin shut his window's curtains, and jumped on his bed. Something akin to happiness swirled inside his chest. Someone actually wanted to to talk to him for once, apart from his mother of course.

He smiled, feeling sort of weird.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this chapter!


	3. hide ; ii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proof read!

Sunlight flitted through the curtains inside Changbin's room, falling directly on the half demon's forehead. It got annoying at one point, but Changbin knew it would help him wake up. It always did.

Changbin didn't see the need to use alarm clocks because of that reason, and he could hear better than the average human. He sat up on his bed, and mentally prepared himself for the long day ahead.

His mother never bothered him to wake up, because she knew he'd always be on time for school, and she respected his privacy. Those were some of the many things his mother did that Changbin loved her for.

Changbin went into the bathroom to take a shower. He finished quicker than he usually would, avoiding staring at his body as much as possible. It wasn't like he wasn't used to his body, it was that he was _too_ used to seeing himself. Everyday he'd see the same thing, even when he wished for a different outcome each time. Each time, he'd get disappointed when he saw that he didn't change from how he had looked the day before.

He made sure not to use all the hot water, because he couldn't stay in cold water for long or else his body was going to turn this hideous shade of red. He'd look like he had a blushing problem, or he'd look like a tomato.

Changbin brushed his teeth soon after, trying as much as possible not to stare at his face in the mirror. He remembered when him and his mother first moved here, and he'd begged his mother to have that mirror removed, but she never listened to him. Changbin figured it was one of her schemes to get him to like how he looked, but it hadn't worked yet.

Afterwards, Changbin dressed up (and he didn't forget to bring his shades this time), and headed to the living room with his backpack in hand.

As expected, his mother was already up, but she wasn't dressed for work yet. She grinned when she spotted him, and waved him over.

"You haven't left the house yet, so why are you wearing that mask?" She asked him.

Changbin just shrugged, and took it off, because he could see her point. And he wouldn't be able to eat his breakfast with a face mask on anyway.

As Changbin ate his breakfast, he leafed through his books to see if he completed all the homework he'd been given, and was satisfied with himself when he found out that he did.

"Bye mom," Changbin waved as he left the house, smiling to himself when she mirrored his statement before closing the door.

The negative thing about waking up early for school was that Changbin got to experience the air at its coldest moments. He didn't like it. The breeze caressed his hands, and Changbin immediately dug his hands into his pockets to fish out his cotton gloves.

He'd always disliked the colder seasons, simply because it really affected how he felt, and made his skin more coarse and therefore more painful to touch at times.

After putting on the gloves, he settled his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and started his daily stroll down the street. He was in no rush, simply because the public buses wouldn't be around for another thirty minutes.

Changbin heard the sound of boots crunching on dead leaves long before someone started walking with him.

"Hi neighbour!"

Changbin's hands fisted themselves within the material of his jeans, and his eyes were trained forward. "Hi."

He felt Felix's eyes on him, and he could literally hear the questions buzzing through his head. He knew Felix wondered why he was basically covering his whole face up, but he figured that he'd get the answer soon, when everyone started telling him to stay away from Changbin because he was a _demon_.

"Changbin, why are you wearing shades when it's like 6:30 AM?" Felix asked, his eyes tracing over Changbin's hidden face.

"Bad eyesight," Changbin stated. He rounded a corner, feeling slightly irritated when Felix followed behind him. He knew that they had to head in the same direction because they were going to the same school, but that didn't make him any more tolerant of Felix's presence.

"And you're wearing your mask again. Are you sick or something?"

"Maybe. I don't want to get you sick, so maybe you can like, stay away from me."

Felix shook his head, an easygoing smile taking over his face. "Nah. I don't get sick easily."

"Okay." Changbin wondered how much of what Felix said would be true if the Australian saw him without his mask on, and if he saw his horns. He bet Felix would get scared, and would immediately start avoiding him. Changbin wouldn't be surprised if that happened, so he wanted to be nothing more than strangers to Felix to avoid getting hurt over that in the future.

"We have some classes together, right?" Felix asked once more, staring at Changbin again.

"Yes."

"I saw you during Literature yesterday," Felix admitted.

Changbin watched him, surprised. Felix wasn't looking at Changbin this time, but was staring at the road he was walking on instead.

"I wanted to give you a piece of my mind when I'd spotted you, but I couldn't do so because of all the students. Our classmates are really curious, right? At least about me. I was always bombarded with different questions, and it was hard to keep up. Who knew being a new student would be this hard?"

Changbin shrugged, his pulse quickening when Felix watched him again. For a brief second, he thought that Felix would be able to see through his shades and see how his eyes _really_ looked like. That thought made Changbin flicker his eyes away. He glanced at his wristwatch to pass the time, and heaved a sigh of relief when a public bus showed itself.

"You aren't going on the school bus?" Felix questioned, his eyebrows knitting in genuine confusion.

Changbin shook his head. He wanted to say something, but he decided against it at the last second. His voice would just sound muffled, and his voice sometimes sounded gruff because he didn't speak a lot.

Without any further delay, Changbin stepped into the public bus, and took his usual seat off to the side by the windows. He didn't see Felix again, so he guessed the taller had crossed the road to enter their school's official bus.

Changbin looked up when the door opened once more, and found it hard to contain his surprise when he saw Felix step inside the bus.

The Australian looked completely surpised at first when he entered, and his eyes scanned over the area as if they were looking for something. Felix started walking again when his eyes landed on Changbin's form.

"Hey," Felix smiled after he took the seat _right next_ to Changbin. The bus obviously had other empty seats to seat on, but Felix had chosen the one that was as close to the half demon as possible.

"You--" Changbin cleared his throat, "aren't going on the school bus again?"

"I figured there would be too many students inside it. I don't really like crowded areas."

"Oh, okay." Changbin took off his shades and avoided looking Felix's way for the majority of the bus ride.

Felix talked the most throughout the ride. He asked Changbin way too many questions about this and that, and Changbin gave the shortest answers as possible to try and discourage the Australian from asking any more questions.

"Korean Literature sucks ass," Felix said as soon as the two males stepped out of the bus. "The teacher makes everything boring."

Changbin shrugged, even though he agreed with Felix. A lady with bouncy green hair walked in front of them with a bag hanging from her arms, and Changbin could see soft looking white cat ears coming from the woman's eye-catching hair.

Animal hybrids. They were another kind of hybrid, apart from angels and fairies, that also got praised because of their looks. Though, they tended to get highly sexualized more than anything, but others generally liked them.

Changbin noticed Felix staring at her, so he guessed he must've liked what he saw. "You like her?"

Felix quickly shook his head. "Her ears just look nice. Wish I had cat ears too. They look cute."

 _What about horns, then? Do they look cute too?_ Changbin thought. _Probably not_.

"And, I'm not straight. I mean, I am, kind of, because I'm bisexual," Felix rambled, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. He looked like he felt cold, even in the navy blue sweater that he was clad in.

Changbin bit his lower lip, and focused on everything and nothing at once. Gradually, the air around them got warmer, and Felix took out his hands from his pockets, sighing in content.

He looked peaceful with his small smile, and Changbin was glad Felix wasn't cold again.

Temperature warping was something Changbin could do, just to make his surroundings warmer so he wouldn't freeze. He didn't use it that much though, because it was hard for him to get the right temperature he needed without burning himself or causing harm to his surroundings.

He was glad he didn't hurt Felix or anyone in close proximity to them, and felt satisfied that Felix was able to feel better in some way, even if the Australian didn't know it was him who made the temperature warmer.

_______

 

As soon as they entered the school, a couple of their classmates hollered at Felix and waved at him to come over.

 

Any moment from now, Changbin knew they'd think Felix was weird for walking with him inside the school.

 

He snuck a peek at Felix's face, and saw how indecisive he looked. He didn't know how or why Felix would act like that, so he decided to take matters into his own hands before everything escalated. 

  
"Go and hang out with them. I have to do something else anyway," Changbin said. The truth was, he didn't have anything to do. He just wanted his classmatses to stop watching him like he was committing a mortal sin or something.

Felix nodded, before joining the other students at the corner where they'd been huddled up together. Changbin watched him go, and realized that it was better this way.

Felix didn't need to talk to him anyway. He was going to make friends, and Changbin didn't want to stand in the way of that. He also didn't want any unnecessary attention on him before of his and Felix's sudden 'friendship'. That was the last thing he needed right now.

Classes came and went, and Changbin and Felix only got to talk a few times throughout the day. It wasn't much, but it was okay with Changbin. At least, that was what he convinced himself with.

If they talked more than they already did, it would spark even more attention than needed.

When lunch rolled around, Changbin headed to his familar spot at the back of the school, eager to escape everyone's stares for a while. He made sure no one was around before pulling down his mask to start eating.

He checked his phone for a couple of times too, before dropping it back into his backpack.

Changbin quickly finished his lunch, and covered his lips and nose once more with his mask.

"Changbin, are you there?"

Changbin almost choked on air, but before he could do anything, Felix appeared in his line of vision.

"Oh, hi," Felix smiled, completely disregarding Changbin's expression of shock.

"Hi." Changbin stared at the floor. "What are you doing here?"

"Why aren't you at the cafeteria?" Felix asked instead of answering Changbin's question.

Changbin shrugged. "It's too crowded."

"I think so too," Felix agreed.

Awkward silence ensued between the two males, and Felix eventually broke it.

"Can I seat here?" He asked, pointing to the spot beside Changbin.

Changbin couldn't believe his ears. Did Felix actually ask if he could seat _next_ to him? It must've been a joke, the half demon reasoned. It must've been some kind of dare or something. His schoolmates dared people to do outrageous things at times, and he had fallen victim to their dares more often than not.

So if Felix was being dared, Changbin would be disappointed for sure, but he wouldn't be surprised.

"Yes, you can."

Felix sat next to Changbin after that, and their shoulders and arms brushed a couple of times. It made Changbin tense, yet comfortable, since Felix's arms felt warm. Really warm.

Changbin didn't utter a word when Felix took out what he'd bought from the cafeteria and started eating. He shook his head when Felix offered him a salad.

"But salads taste great."

"Yeah, but they're cold. I don't like cold food," Changbin blurted out without thinking. He panicked, and avoided looking into Felix's eyes.

Felix nodded in understanding. "Oh. I get where you're coming from, Changbin."

There was also the fact that Changbin didn't want to show his face to Felix, which would have been unavoidable if he accepted that salad. _Why don't you just show your face to Felix, so you can speed up the inevitable?_ He asked himself. _He'll leave you soon anyway_.

The truth was that Changbin sort of liked Felix's company, and he liked that Felix went out of his way to hang out with him. No one had ever done that before, that it almost felt _foreign_ to the half demon.

By refusing to show his face to Felix, he'd be able to make the taller stay by his side, at least for a while longer. He wouldn't be _that_ alone anymore. It sounded selfish, but what could Changbin do?

Felix was watching Changbin again.

"What?" The half demon asked, not really liking how many times he'd caught Felix staring at him for the past few minutes. It reminded Changbin too much of the way people used to look at him when he didn't wear his mask or beanie.

"...Ten said you had something to hide under that mask you always wore," Felix answered. "Is that true? Do you have like, acne or something?"

Changbin's heart raced. "I don't have acne. I just don't like showing my face."

"Why? I bet you look very handsome."

Changbin's widened and he stumbled over his words. "I-I--you haven't even _seen_ how I really look like."

"Then show me. Come on, I won't judge," Felix smiled, staring right at Changbin's face once again.

Changbin's heart thundered against his chest at how close Felix was to him, so he quickly brought himself to his feet and took a few steps away from Felix.

"I need to go somewhere. Alone. So don't follow me. Lunch is going to end soon too." He grabbed his backpack, leaving a puzzled and slightly hurt Felix behind.


	4. hide ; iii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin tries to avoid Felix.
> 
> Tries.

Changbin avoided Felix for the rest of the day. It wasn't that hard to do so, since the rest of their classmates played their part in having Felix to themselves, which gave both males very limited time to actually talk to one another.

Changbin convinced himself that he was okay with that.

With Felix out of the way in most classes, Changbin could concentrate on more important things, like his school work or trying to sleep without the teachers catching him.

He always felt extremely tired during the afternoon periods, but he felt better at late at night and early in the morning. It was weird, considering how cold it could get at night, but that was how it always had been.

As soon as his classes ended for the day, Changbin sat up from his seat and once again waited for everyone to leave the classroom before he exited himself. Due to his short height, he sort of got pushed around a lot, and some of his classmates could be quite mean whenever he bumped into them.

As soon as he packed up his bag, he left the empty classroom, and wondered what he was going to do before he headed back home. His mother would still be at work, so he'd be all alone at home, and he didn't like that.

"Changbin."

Changbin froze in his footsteps, before turning around to see Felix leaning on one of the colourful pillars that decorated their school, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were cold and serious, and he wasn't smiling.

"Hey," Changbin greeted, feeling a bit nervous with Felix's intense stare.

Felix walked up to him, which the half demon didn't expect at all. He instantly looked away, not intending to maintain eye contact with Felix. If the Australian looked at him long enough, he'd see his strange reddish eyes, and Changbin wasn't ready for that yet.

"We didn't talk a lot today," Felix continued.

"Yeah, we didn't." Changbin adjusted his beanie just to make sure that his horns weren't noticeable, and scanned the area to see if any students were around. There weren't.

"Because you ignored me," Felix answered, his cool demeanor breaking immediately. If Changbin didn't know better, he would've thought Felix looked offended at that moment.

Changbin shook his head, even though he knew he was lying. "...I didn't ignore you, Felix."

Felix didn't look like he believed Changbin, but he nodded anyway.

"What are you doing by the pillars?" Changbin asked after a few seconds of silence. "Do you have extra classes or something?"

"No. I was waiting for my neighbour," Felix said with a smile. He laughed when Changbin's eyes widened, and he walked even closer, which made the half demon take a step back.

Felix didn't seem to know, or care, about personal space. Changbin had figured that out during the past three days he'd spent with Felix. The taller was always around him, being as close as possible, to Changbin's shock and confusion. Felix was a clingy human, but he didn't know why the Australian had chosen to latch on to him, of all people.

"Are you doing anything before you go home?" Felix asked, breaking the silence that had formed between them due to Changbin's overthinking.

"Uh--yes," Changbin stuttered, and Felix raised an eyebrow. "I have homework to do."

"Really? We didn't get any homework today though," Felix countered. His expression darkened, and he looked kind of disappointed.

"Oh. I must've forgot." Changbin bit his lip, because Felix's face became unreadable. Changbin looked around the vincinity once more, before adding, "I really need to go home now. See you later."

"Sure." Felix didn't say anything else, and Changbin took that as his cue to leave.

He had a feeling Felix wasn't happy with how he'd acted, but Changbin couldn't help it. It was better Felix got angry at him now, than get angry at him later. Changbin would save himself from hurting even more if he cut ties with Felix earlier, since he knew Felix would eventually stop being friends with him.

It was only a matter of time.

_______

 

As Changbin had previously predicted, his mother was not home when he entered.

 

He sighed, taking off his mask while he looked for something to eat in the fridge. Not finding anything that he was particularly interested in, he climbed up the steps to his room and placed his bag next to his bed.

 

Then Changbin found himself walking towards the window. He pushed it up, and stared at the other window opposite his. The curtain was pulled down, obstructing the half demon's view, which meant that Felix wasn't home yet.

  
Changbin knew Felix always opened that window whenever he was inside his room, and he knew the human was a full night owl with how late he stayed up.

He wondered what Felix was doing now.

If Felix was around, he would've seen Changbin without his mask on, and the half demon hoped that the Australian wouldn't show up unexpectedly. After a while of nothing happening, Changbin went back inside his room and sprawled himself on his bed.

What did he expect? He was the one who pushed Felix away, so why was he expecting Felix to come and hang out with him? The Australian was probably out in town, spending time with people who didn't make fake excuses because they didn't want to spend time with him.

"Whatever," Changbin mumbled. He adjusted himself on his bed and tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He was restless. His mother hadn't even shown up yet, since she was going to be home later today.

So Changbin spent the time surfing the net, and it did distract him for a while. Eventually, he got bored of it, and shut his laptop.

What should he do?

When evening came around, Changbin jumped off his bed and walked into the kitchen. He poured water into a plastic cup, and headed back into his room.

He was going to practice temperature warping again. The goal was for him to raise the temperature of the water without melting the plastic cup. It was going to be hard, but Changbin wanted to be better at it.

(And he also wanted to occupy himself with it so he wouldn't think about when Felix was going to come back to his house.)

Setting the cup on the table, he sat in front of it and comcentrated on the cool water inside the cup. Changbin usually didn't try out the powers he had been given because he didn't want to embrace the demon side of him, but today he was really bored, and boredom made him do things that he didn't think he was capable of doing.

The water started bubbling due to the warmth suddenly emitted because of Changbin staring directly at it. Steam started rising, and Changbin smiled, but then the bottom half of the cup started shrivelling up, which the half demon didn't like at all.

 _Don't melt_ , Changbin commanded inside his mind, and the water started bubbling even more now. The cup was held in place for a few more moments, which was honestly longer than Changbin had expected.

Something soft hit the back of his head, and the half demon immediately turned around to see what it was.

It was a white paper, folded neatly into an airplane.

Changbin narrowed his eyes in confusion, and the plastic cup completely melted because he wasn't paying attention to it. Scorching hot water dripped on his knees, and Changbin winced only a bit.

Forgetting about the cup, he bent down to pick up the paper airplane and open it up.

_Hi neighbour :)_

_If you want, you can meet me downstairs in front of your house. I want to talk to you._

_Felix._

Changbin looked through his window, and spotted Felix in front of his house with a comfy looking hoodie and sweatpants on.

Changbin decided to dress in a hoodie too, and he didn't forget to put on one of his beanies and masks.

In a minute, he was out of his house, and it didn't take long for Felix to spot him.

"Hi," Felix waved.

"Hey, Felix." Changbin could look at Felix more than usual now because his eyes looked almost totally black at night.

"You're wearing that mask again," Felix stated, looking amused. "I'm starting to think you don't want me to see your face or something."

 _You aren't wrong_. "I just...I'm not comfortable with showing people my face," Changbin explained, digging his hands into his pockets. "Well...what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's take a walk," Felix replied instead, avoiding Changbin's question.

The half demon nodded, wondering how long he and Felix were going to stay outside. The night breeze felt cold, and Changbin could only be tolerant of that for a limited number of time before he'd get affected.

When a few minutes passed and Felix still didn't say anything, Changbin broke the silence.

"What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh, I almost forgot," Felix shot Changbin a sheepish smile. He pointed to Changbin's eyes. "I like your eyes. They're deep and want me to keep looking, like watching the moon shine on a dark pond or something."

Changbin didn't know how to respond to that. No one had ever said that about his eyes before. "T-Thanks...?"

Felix gave him a thumbs up in response.

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Changbin asked, slightly shivering. He'd raised the temperature a couple of times, but it wasn't enough to stop him from feeling cold. Changbin should _not_ feel cold, ever.

Why was Changbin walking with Felix at night, anyway? He could've just made an excuse as to why he couldn't go out at night. They could've talked from their windows like they always did.

Instead of answering Changbin's question, Felix hooked his arm with Changbin, shocking the shorter male. "You feel cold, don't you? I'm sorry for dragging you out tonight then. You should've told me something."

"I-It's okay," Changbin reassured Felix, but the Australian wasn't having it.

"Let's go back to your house. I can come in, right? Are your parents home? They wouldn't mind me over, right? I just want to make you something warm to drink. You like hot chocolate, right? That's about the only thing I can make, sorry."

Changbin couldn't keep up with Felix's rambling, so he just nodded along, letting the Australian drag him back to his house.

_______

 

Changbin sat on the couch in the living room while Felix was in the kitchen, making the hot chocolate. He was dreading his decision, because he knew he'd have to pull down his mask to drink the hot chocolate.

 

_Why didn't he think of that?_

 

It wasn't like Changbin's face looked that bad, but he was so used to hiding it all these years, that he wasn't ready to show anyone his full face. He didn't know how Felix would react.

 

The human would most likely be freaked out, because that was most people's reaction when they saw him barefaced. Changbin didn't want Felix to think badly of him, or ignore him after tonight.

 

Maybe he should send Felix out of his house, so say that his mother didn't like visitors. He'd be lying, but he didn't want to reveal his face.

 

"I'm done," Felix spoke up from the kitchen, before seating right next to Changbin, like he _always_ did. He placed the mug on the table in front of them, and smiled at Changbin. "It took me a few tries _but_ , I think you'll like this one."

 

"Thanks..." Changbin mumbled. He could tell Felix was expecting him to take the mug and take a sip, and that made him more anxious as the seconds ticked by.

 

"...You don't want to drink it?" Felix asked, the smile on his face disappearing.

 

"Of course I do. But--could you like, turn your face away? I don't mean to be rude, I just...don't want you to see my face..."

 

Gosh, Changbin sounded really pathetic, and he could literally read Felix's thoughts right about now. The taller was confused, no doubt about it, and after a few tense filled seconds, he nodded.

 

"Okay." He turned around, making sure that he wasn't facing Changbin. "But you don't need to hide your face from me. I swear I won't judge you. And I bet you aren't unattractive, Changbin."

 

The half demon nodded, before pushing down his mask to take the hot chocolate. He loved the taste, and he loved how it felt on his tongue. He finished everything in a couple of seconds, and thanked Felix.

 

"You're welcome. Your voice sounds clearer. I like it. Can I turn around now?"

 

Changbin pushed up his mask. "Yeah. You can now."

  
Felix did as he was told, and stared at the empty mug. "Wow, you finished everything. Was it that great?"

Changbin nodded, and a grin spread across Felix's face. It made the half demon feel strangely content, and he concluded that he liked Felix's smile.

Felix had a nice smile.

"Are your parents home?" Felix asked Changbin a few seconds in.

"Par _ent_. Mom's not home, but I think she'll be here soon."

"Oh, okay." Felix took the mug to the kitchen and came back, leaping on the couch which startled Changbin. He giggled, leaning sideways on the couch to stare at Changbin.

Changbin discovered that second that it wasn't only the cold that made his face and ears turn red, it was Felix's stare.

"You're really shy, you know?" Felix pointed out, inching closer to Changbin. "Why is that? Are you afraid of people or something? Are you afraid of _me_?"

Changbin stared at the TV that wasn't even on. "I'm not afraid of anyone."

"Then why don't you want to show me how you look like?" Felix asked, poking Changbin's side. "I won't laugh, and I won't hate on you because of your appearance." He batted his eyelashes. " _Please_?"

Changbin stared at Felix. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, actually...I was wondering if you were human. It's totally fine if you're a hybrid. It's just some guys in math were talking bad about you and I told them to stop, but they told me I'd hate you once I saw how you really looked like," Felix trailed off, staring at his hands. "I won't hate you, Changbin."

Changbin stared at the table in front of him, his previous good mood dampening. He knew his classmates would say something like that, and it would be only a matter of time before they told Felix that he was a demon. Changbin wasn't looking forward to it.

Changbin was used to their taunting, so he was numb to them and didn't display his emotions that easily. But at that moment, he felt like crying.

"You keep on saying that you won't hate me or judge me if you see how I look like, but how are you so sure?" Changbin questioned. Before Felix could reply, he continued speaking. "I--I like you, Felix. I like your company. You're really nice to me, which no one, except for my mother, has been to me. I don't want that to change. Yes, I'm a hybrid, and trust me, you're better off not seeing my face."

Felix didn't say anything, and Changbin glanced at him.

"I'm sorry for saying that..."

Felix shook his head. "It's fine. I'm sorry you think so lowly of yourself. No one deserves to think that way about themselves." His shoulder was touching Changbin's own now, and the half demon felt warm. Once again, Changbin liked the feeling. Felix was always warm, and Changbin told himself that was the only reason why he was so drawn to the Australian. "But I'd like you to know that I'll always be your friend. I _want_ to be your friend. You seem really cool and interesting, and I just like being around you."

Changbin stared at his hands. His fingernails didn't look as prominent as the ones on full demons, but they still looked weird when someone stared at them for long enough. "Thanks."

Felix appeared in his line of sight, smiling at Changbin. Then, his smile slowly disappeared, and in its place was an unreadable expression. Changbin couldn't gauge what Felix was thinking.

Someone knocked on the door, and Felix moved away, which confused Changbin greatly.

The half demon stood up, and walked towards the door. "It's probably mom," Changbin told Felix, and the Australian just nodded.

As Changbin had predicted, his mother showed up behind the door.

"Welcome back, mom," Changbin told her.

She smiled, looking slightly confused that Changbin was still covering his face up. Realization flashed through her once her eyes fell on Felix.

"Hi, Mrs. Seo," Felix greeted, and Changbin's mother looked taken aback. It was very understandable though, because Changbin rarely had friends over. He _never_ had friends over. "I'm Lee Felix. It's very nice to meet you."

"Same to you, Felix," Changbin's mother replied, a soft smile taking over her face at Felix's presence. "Are you sleeping over?"

"Uh, no--" Felix glanced at Changbin before continuing, "--I actually live next door. I just wanted to hang out with Changbin for a bit."

"That's good," she replied. "You're always welcome here."

Felix nodded and walked next to Changbin. "Thank you, Mrs. Seo. I actually have to go now, since my parents would be expecting me by now. So I'll see you all later, then."

"Sure," Changbin's mother replied, while Changbin himself shrugged.

Felix softly squeezed Changbin's shoulder and looked at him. "See you tomorrow, yeah?"

Changbin smiled, although it wasn't visible. "Yeah, see you."

Felix waved at them before leaving the house.

"Are you friends?" Changbin's mother asked a few seconds later.

_Were he and Felix friends?_

"I guess so. He came a few days ago and we hang out sometimes." That was all Changbin was planning on saying though. He didn't want to say anything else, for fear that something bad was going to happen to change that.


	5. hide ; iv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix is insecure about some things too.

Changbin couldn't help but feel surprised when he spotted Felix in his living room the next day, talking to his mother about something.

"Hey Changbin," Felix smiled once he saw him.

Changbin nodded, his hands touching his face to see whether he had his mask on. He felt relieved when he felt the familiar material covering his nose and lips. "Hi, Felix." He then walked into the kitchen, happy that his mother followed him. "When did Felix get here?"

"A few minutes ago, honey," Changbin's mother replied. "He said he wanted to wait for you before you two went to school together. Isn't that sweet?"

Yes, that was sweet. _Too_ sweet, in fact. Was Felix doing this because he genuinely wanted to, or was he doing this because he felt sorry for Changbin? Or, was the Australian told to do this by his classmates?

Felix didn't seem like a person who would do that, but Changbin still felt confused. What was Felix gaining from this? From hanging out with him?

Apart from the fact that he was half a demon, Changbin had no other interesting qualities, and he was sure Felix was going to get tired of him soon.

"I...I can't _eat_ anything with him here," Changbin whispered, to which his mother furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

Then slowly, her expression softened as realization dawned on her. "Okay, Changbin. I'll give you some money so you can buy something along the way, okay?"

Changbin nodded, before his mother stepped out to retrieve the cash. Realizing that he was now alone with Felix, he headed where the taller was positioned.

Felix smiled when Changbin stood in front of him. "Did you eat anything yet?"

Changbin slowly shook his head. "...No. I'm getting food from outside today. Mom's...getting me the money." _Because of you, you don't need to know that_.

"Oh, okay," Felix nodded, and didn't say anything else until they were out of the house.

The walk had been mostly silent, and Changbin liked it like that, though he sometimes wished that Felix talked to him so the atmosphere wouldn't feel so _empty_.

After Changbin bought what he needed, they headed in the direction of the bus stop, and Changbin was once again surprised when Felix entered a public bus with him again.

"You don't want to go inside the official bus?" Changbin questioned once he took his seat, "It's much more spaceous than this bus."

Felix shook his head, seating so close to Changbin that their shoulders rubbed against each other. Their faces were just a few inches apart, and it made Changbin kind of tense. He was close enough to count just how many freckles were on Felix's face, and he would've done that, if the taller's face wasn't completely void of them.

Now that he thought about it again, didn't Felix have freckles? So, where were they?

"I'm much more comfortable with you," Felix reasoned, snapping Changbin out of his thoughts, "and as I said before, I like you."

Heat spread across the apples of Changbin's cheeks, and he was glad that half his face was hidden. Why was he even reacting that way to Felix's statement? Felix was only being friendly. And, the taller couldn't like him like that if he hadn't even seen the half demon's face.

It wasn't possible to like someone without seeing them, especially in this world that Changbin lived in.

"Uh, thank you," Changbin muttered. "I like you too."

"Ah, thank you too," Felix smiled, glancing at Changbin. "I'm glad you like me."

"You're really nice," Changbin explained, a bit afraid to look Felix directly in the eye. He wasn't keen on making eye contact with other people in general, except for his mother.

Felix grinned as if Changbin had informed him that a million dollars was under their seats or something. Why was Felix acting that way anyway?

As soon as the bus stopped, Felix stood on his feet, and waited for Changbin to stand up too before they left the bus along with the other people.

Changbin didn't think too much of it, even though Felix was being touchier than usual. Felix usually kept his distance ( _sometimes_ ), but now, Felix was hovering around him like a bodyguard. He was always close to Changbin, and a majority of times their shoulders and hands bumbed into each other because of Felix's close proximity.

It was weird.

"Sorry," Felix apologized for the millionth time when his and Changbin's hands brushed against each other's.

"It's fine," Changbin replied. He contemplated placing his hands into his jacket pockets instead, but he realized that it could've come off as rude. So, he just settled for making his hands swing less.

"The weather's really cold, even if I'm wearing my thick sweater," Felix spoke up, changing the topic. "I wish it would magically turn warm like it did the last time. That was really weird, by the way. But the warmth felt really nice. I felt really comfy."

"Maybe the weather listened to you or something," Changbin mumbled.

Felix nodded. "Maybe. But...you said you were a hybrid, right? So, do you have like, powers or something? Can you control the temperature?"

Changbin's eyes widened when he realized that Felix was on to him. But, Felix didn't look judgemental or digusted. He just looked curious. "I--yeah. I can control the temperature. Kind of."

He averted his eyes when Felix wouldn't stop looking at him. He knew Felix was basically wondering what kind of hybrid he was to be able to control the temperature. The blond wouldn't have to wonder for much longer though, because Changbin was sure someone would tell Felix what he was sooner or later.

"Uhm, you wouldn't mind if I...asked you to do it now, will you?" Felix questioned. When Changbin looked at him, he smiled. "I'm just freezing my butt off here."

Changbin couldn't help but laugh at that, even if they were nearing their school building. "...Okay."

The half demon felt pressured under Felix's gaze, because he didn't want to mess up. It was one thing when he brought up the temperature because he wanted to, but now that he was going to show Felix his powers, he felt incredibly nervous.

He clenched his fists, and narrowed his eyes in concentration. He had to be careful, because Felix could get burned if he wasn't focused enough. Slowly, the temperature rose, and a soft and delicate kind of warmth enveloped the two males.

Felix grinned. "Woah. That was cool."

Changbin shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. ...Did you like it?"

"Like it? I _loved_ it," Felix replied while displayng a thumbs up with both of his hands. "I wish I could do that. Would really help during winter, to be honest. But, at least I have you to keep me warm."

Felix suddenly winced, gripping his right arm in pain. Alarm bells rang through Changbin's head, and he pulled Felix's arm towards him and rolled up the sleeves. There was a reddish bruise present, and it didn't look so good.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Changbin told Felix. "I--I must've lost control over it. I'm so sorry."

Felix shook his head, grinning at Changbin. He was always grinning a lot. "It's fine. We all make mistakes. It'll go soon anyway."

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Felix." Changbin said, running his fingers over the affected area of the Australian's arm.

"Changbin, it's okay. You don't need to worry about me," Felix replied. He watched as Changbin studied his arm, making no attempt to pull it away.

Changbin eventually let Felix's arm go. "I'll...I'll fix it for you later on today after school."

"Sure," Felix nodded, pulling his sleeve down, "okay."

_______

 

Even though Felix's new-found friends tried to keep Felix to themselves, especially Jaeha, one of the popular angel hybrids around the school, Changbin still found Felix loitering around wherever he went. Felix waited for Changbin after all their classes, partnered up with him for a Chemistry project, and followed him to the area behind the school for lunch. 

 

Changbin couldn't figure out why Felix was acting the way he did, but he didn't say anything or mind it. He liked it when Felix made time for him, and liked how friendly Felix had been for the past few days. Changbin really dreaded the day Felix would stop hanging out with him, so he tried to appreciate all the times he and Felix spent together. 

 

_______

  
"Jaeha really seems to like you, you know," Changbin stated during lunch as he watched Felix chew on his sushi rolls, "maybe you should hang out with her and her friends during lunch now. They really like you."

"Sure, she's nice and pretty, I guess," Felix replied. "But I'd rather hang out with you though."

"Why? I'm kind of boring."

Felix's eyes met Changbin's, before shaking his head. "You're not boring. I already told you the reason why I like hanging out with you so much. I just like being around you."

"But...that's not an actual answer."

"Do you want me to be specific?"

Changbin shrugged, and Felix nodded, shutting his container of sushi.

"Okay. I like you so much, because you're nice. _Really_ nice. You don't act fake and superficial like the rest of the people in this school, and you don't only hang out with me because of my looks. You're really thoughtful, and you care about me, even if you try to act like you don't."

Changbin stared at his hands, not knowing what to say. "I... _thanks_?"

Felix laughed out loud, startling Changbin. "You're welcome, Changbin."

_______

 

"Show me your arm," Changbin whispered once he and Felix entered Changbin's room after classes. 

 

Felix did as he was told, and sat in front of Changbin, wanting to see what the half demon would do next.

 

Changbin held Felix's arm in his hands. He was worried about what he was attempting to do, because he usually never brought down the temperature. He didn't like the cold, but he was doing this for Felix. 

 

The temperature of the room started dropping, but the thing really affected by the change was Felix's injured arm. The reddish bruise turned a dark blue, and Felix slightly shivered due to the contact. The bruise got smaller and smaller, until everything closed up.

 

Felix smiled when he saw this, because the bruise was no longer there, and a cool, soothing feeling was now present on his arm. " _Wow_... That was amazing. Are you some type of healer?"

 

Changbin shook his head. "I just lowered the temperature to kill off the cells that were causing you pain, and I guess that closed up the wound..."

 

"Thank you."

 

Changbin awkwardly scratched the back of his nape. "You're welcome, Felix."

 

He looked up at Felix, seeing that the taller male was watching him too. To diffuse the quiet atmosphere, Changbin spoke up. "Uh--your cheeks. They're clear. No freckles present."

 

"Oh," Felix laughed, "I covered them up."

 

"Why?"

 

"Well...not a lot of people have freckles around here, and they'll just look weird on my face."

 

"I don't think they look weird though," Changbin replied.

 

Felix bit his lip. "Thanks, I guess." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm glad you like them."

 

Changbin realized that Felix covered up his freckles because he didn't want anyone to single him out for it. He didn't want anything to make him stand out and get judged, and Changbin found himself relating to the Australian on that. That was the reason why Changbin always hid himself behind his beanies and masks. 

 

"They aren't bad enough to hide them," Changbin continued, noticing how Felix shied away from him at that point. "They're not flaws."

 

"Then...don't hide yourself away too," Felix responded, "you're not a flaw."

 

"How are you so sure?" Changbin muttered, feeling Felix's eyes on him. "I'm hideous."

 

"I know you aren't. You're not hideous."

 

Changbin couldn't believe Felix.


	6. hide ; v

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin sees the inside of Felix's house.

A week had passed by without warning, and Felix and Changbin had gotten closer.

It was obvious to Changbin, and everyone else, that Felix really wanted to be his friend. When he wasn't talking to other people, he was with Changbin, and although it flattered the half demon that someone as liked as Felix spent so much time with him, he also felt worried. He knew about the dirty looks he received from many people when he passed them, and he often fell victim to the 'accidental' stunts pulled by the troublemakers in the school.

Felix hadn't noticed this though, and Changbin made sure he didn't. He never showed how affected he got over how badly he was being treated, because he didn't want the Australian to get worried.

Changbin liked it when Felix was content and happy, because that was what suited him the most, and seeing the taller's smile everyday convinced Changbin that things were going to be okay, at least for the time being.

 

 

 

_______

 

 

 

 

Jaeha and her friends cornered Changbin in the library that Tuesday afternoon.

 

 

 

 

Changbin had been alternating between going over some history books and catching some sleep when he suddenly felt a group of people blocking his line of sight. The table he was at had three empty chairs, and all of them were filled now.

 

 

 

 

"Hey, Changbin."

 

 

 

 

Changbin could recognize that voice from anywhere. He'd heard it numerous times doing his classes, heard it call for Felix lots of times too. He knew it was Jaeha, and suddenly he dreaded ever coming to school today. He looked up, taking in the black haired half angel and the girls who usually followed her around.

 

 

 

 

"Yes?" Changbin asked. His voice sounded calm, and his gaze was steady. They didn't betray how he _really_ felt at that moment.

 

 

 

 

Jaeha flashed her beautiful smile, but it had an edge to it, as it usually did when she addressed Changbin. With her innocent looking features and soft looking wings, she resembled the angel she was supposed to represent. But that was where the resemblance stopped. It was a no brainer that she did not like Changbin at all.

 

 

 

 

"I'm sure you know why we came to talk to you today," She replied, her voice dripping with fake friendliness, "to tell you to stay away from Felix."

 

 

 

 

Changbin wasn't surprised to hear this, and silently closed the book he was supposed to be revising. "...Why?"

 

 

 

 

One of her friends scoffed, but Jaeha glared at her and made her shut up.

 

 

 

 

"Because I said so, _Changbin,_ " Jaeha answered, stressing on the half demon's name. It almost sounded as if she was forced to say it, just to be nice. "Felix is a nice guy. _Really_ nice guy. No wonder he's hanging out with you. But he's new, and in a matter of time, he'll leave you and be friends with _normal_ people, like us. I don't mean anything bad, and you know it's true too. So, leave him before it's too late."

 

 

 

 

Other people in the library were starting to stare at them, wondering what a girl as popular as Jaeha was doing with someone like Changbin.

 

 

 

 

Jaeha and her friends stood up a few seconds later, and strutted out of the library, only for them to accidentally bump into Felix, the person they'd been talking about earlier.

 

 

 

 

Jaeha grinned as soon as she saw Felix, and launched into a short conversation with him thereafter, despite the library's rule about talking.

 

 

 

 

Changbin closed all the books in front of him, and brought them to the librarian to check them out while Jaeha was still talking to Felix.

 

 

 

 

The conversation didn't last long, and soon Felix walked to where Changbin was standing, shoving the history books into his backpack.

 

 

 

 

"Changbin," Felix whispered, "what's up?"

 

 

 

 

"I'm fine," Changbin replied, though it sounded strained.

 

 

 

 

"It's weird that Jaeha and her friends are in a _library,_ of all places. I almost did a double take when I saw them there. Do you know what they were doing here?"

 

 

 

 

Changbin shrugged, and zipped up his bag.

 

 

 

 

"And uh, I was going to meet you earlier, but I was signing up for the dance club."

 

 

 

 

"Oh, okay."

 

 

 

 

They walked out of the library in silence.

 

 

 

 

"Hey, Changbin? What's wrong? You don't look happy."

 

 

 

 

Changbin lightly chuckled. "How do you know? Half of my face is covered."

 

 

 

 

"Your eyes look sad. Are you sad?" Felix questioned, mumbling sorry's to a girl that he almost collided with. The girl smiled at him in response.

 

 

 

 

Changbin wouldn't even make the mistake of accidentally bumping into someone, because only god knew what they would do if he did.

 

 

 

 

The half demon shook his head. "No. I'm not sad."

 

 

 

 

Changbin could tell Felix was still unconvinced. _Why do you even care?_ He wanted to ask Felix. _When you're just going to leave me soon anyway, like Jaeha said?_

  
Instead, he just kept his mouth shut, like always.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me? Jisung told me about this cool place that sells great fast food."

Changbin looked up at Felix. "Uhm, maybe another time. I can't eat in a public place."

The hope in Felix's eyes dimmed, but he quickly nodded. "Oh...okay."

Changbin felt guilty, even though he thought he had no reason to be. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize, Changbin. But," Felix's eyes ran over Changbin's face, "I...I want to see how you look like. I know it may seem really annoying of me, but I can't help but to be curious. You can trust me, you know?"

Changbin's heart raced in apprehension, and his steps quickened over the cement road. But like always, Felix caught up to him in no time.

"Changbin?"

"I trust you," Changbin let out, "but--but I don't want you to hate me."

Felix held on to Changbin's arm, preventing him from walking further. "I've told you many times that I won't hate you or judge you, Changbin. I'm...I'm not shallow, so why can't you understand that?"

"I understand."

"Then why do you keep hiding your face away from me?" Felix asked.

Changbin faced the ground, browsing through his head to search for the appropiate answer. He felt like he was being scrutinized and he didn't like it at all. Felix was expecting him to answer a difficult question, without ever being in his shoes. "Because I _have_ to. I've been judged, made fun of and isolated just because of the hybrid that I am! Everyone stayed away from me, and hated me because of how I look, and I had no other choice but to cover my face up because I couldn't take it anymore. You've seen how our classmates treat me, so you should know why I've chosen to do this. Please, don't ask me again."

Felix was silent as he let Changbin's arm go. "...Alright."

Changbin could tell that Felix wasn't happy, which wasn't his intention at all. He didn't like seeing the human without a smile on his face, and internally cursed at himself for answering Felix the way he did. "I'm sorry."

"I'm the one that's supposed to be sorry. I just...wanted to see your face, you know? Wanted you to be more comfortable with me. I'm sorry if you felt like I was forcing you to show your face."

Changbin wordlessly nodded, and started walking again. He dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and Felix spent the time talking about random topics to pass the time until they got to Changbin's house.

"Do you want to enter my house?" Felix asked a few moments later. "My parents are at work, and it gets a bit lonely here at times."

"Sure," Changbin answered, a bit hesitant because of what Jaeha told him earlier.

Felix quickly unlocked the door and invited Changbin inside. "Do you like it? The house looks bare because we aren't done packing, but that means more space," he laughed, looking at Changbin.

"I like it," Changbin replied. Felix threw his bag on the sofa, and walked behind Changbin to take his own off too. "Oh--uh, thanks."

"You're welcome," Felix answered, his pitch lower than how it usually was, and half a second later, his hands were off Changbin's shoulders. "Oh! We can watch a movie or something, or work on that chemistry project. Or, we can do anything you want, because I'm all out of suggestions."

Changbin's shoulders burned. "W-We can do whatever you want. I don't mind."

"Great. Movie it is then. I'm gonna microwave the popcorn. You can join me if you want to."

Changbin nodded, following Felix into the kitchen. Like the rest of the house, the kitchen was noticeably bare, but it looked clean and well taken care off.

The half demon helped Felix microwave the popcorn Felix wanted to eat, because he had no intention of eating any of it while Felix was present. All of this was done in silence, except for the occassional accidental touches and bumps, all of which came from Felix.

Changbin dismissed this as Felix just being touchy, as usual, and soon enough they settled on the couch and went on Netflix to watch whatever interesting movie was on.

It wasn't long until Changbin's mind drifted off to how Jaeha and her friends confronted him in the library. Her words had struck a cord within him, because he knew she was right, and the truth hurt. How long was Felix going to stay and endure Changbin's secrecy before he got tired and left? How long was Felix going to be his friend before he'd start to ignore his existence?

As Jaeha had said, it was only a matter of time, and he had to let go of Felix before he got too attached. Attachment meant that Changbin was going to get hurt when Felix would eventually forget about him, and that was something he didn't want to deal with right now.

"You aren't paying attention to the movie," Felix pointed out, casting a glance Changbin's way. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You don't want to watch the movie again?"

"I want to watch it," Changbin sighed, meeting Felix's eyes. The taller's foundation had started to wear off, revealing the numerous freckles underneath. Changbin wondered if Felix even realized it.

"Okay," Felix grinned, focusing his attention back on the movie.

The movie was really interesting, and it kept Changbin's mind off his thoughts for quite some time. However, he found himself not being able to concentrate a few minutes later, and it wasn't because of his thoughts.

The distance between him and Felix had decreased over time, until Felix's shoulder was on top of Changbin's own, and his hair was tickling the side of Changbin's jawline. Changbin stiffened up, not knowing what to do. Why was Felix so close to him?

The movie soon ended, and Felix hadn't moved from his spot. He turned to watch Changbin, and the half demon's mind went crazy with how close their faces were. It didn't help that Felix was smiling at him now, which didn't explain this strange situation any better.

"How did you like the movie?" Felix breathed out, and Changbin blinked.

"I...It was nice."

"I thought so too."

Why wasn't Felix moving away? There was a possibilty that Felix liked him in _that_ way, but that possibility sounded so far-fetched and impossible and Changbin forgot about it the second it came. He looked at his lap, escaping Felix's intense gaze. "So..."

"So...oh, I know!" Felix finally moved away. "You have your phone, right?"

Changbin shook his head, his heartbeat steadier than it was before. "No, it's at home. I forgot to bring it this morning."

"Okay. Uh, give me your number."

"Really?" Changbin sounded surprised, and he felt that way too.

"Yeah. Just realized that we've never exchanged numbers all this time." Felix searched his bag and brought out his phone.

"Okay," Changbin nodded, giving Felix his number.

 

 

 

_______

 

 

 

 

After dinner, Changbin hadn't talked to Felix through the window as usual. He stayed up later than he usually did, and when his phone vibrated across his bed he grabbed it and entered his password.

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** hey  
**Felix:** hey  
**Felix:** hey  
**Felix:** hey changbin  
**Felix:** u awake?

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** hey. what's up?

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** nothing  
**Felix:** dinner lasted longer than usual  
**Felix:** that was why i couldnt see you  
**Felix:** what are you doing rn?

 

 

 

 

**Changbin** : texting you :)

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** me too  
**Felix:** are you fine?

 

 

 

 

**Changbin** : i am  
**Changbin:** you?

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** amazing  
**Felix:** thanks to you

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** are you serious

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** i am  
**Felix:** talking with you at night makes me have good dreams

 

 

**Changbin:** you're hilarious  
**Changbin** : ily

 

 

 

**Felix:** i love you?

 

 

 

**Changbin:** i loathe you

 

**Changbin:** i'm sorry

 

 

**Felix:** ilyt  
**Felix:** i loathe you too :)

 

 

**Changbin:** i'm going to sleep now felix

 

 

**Felix:** dream of me  
**Felix:** so if you get nightmares i can like,, fight them because i know taekwando

 

 

**Changbin:** ...  
**Changbin:** sure

 

 

**Felix:** goodnight changbin

**Changbin:** goodnight

 

As Changbin shut off his phone, he listened to Felix's weird advice and actually thought about Felix.

 

He didn't have any dreams that night, but his heart and mind was filled with something else, something that made his heart actually skip a beat. That had never happened before, and Changbin hoped that it wasn't due to any health problem.

 


	7. hide ; vi

As soon as Changbin stepped out of his house the next morning, he saw Felix standing next to the porch, waiting for Changbin to show up as he usually did.

Changbin snuck up behind Felix without making too much noise, and slammed his hands on the taller's shoulders, scaring him.

Changbin laughed at Felix's expression, and laughed even more when the Australian looked like a kicked puppy.

"That, was evil," Felix commented after Changbin's laugh died down. "I've also never heard you laugh like that before."

Changbin fixed his beanie, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You were laughing, and that's good. You know what would be better? Pulling down that mask so I can hear your laughter even more."

Changbin looked away, before shaking his head. " _Felix_."

"Okay, okay," Felix chuckled, raising his hands up in defense. "But...what you did to me earlier was horrible. I might just get my revenge."

Changbin shrugged, before starting to walk away. "Okay. Whatever you say."

"I mean it, Chang," Felix continued, trailing behind the half demon.

"Sure," Changbin said again, before replaying Felix's whole sentence in his mind. "What did you just call me?"

"Chang," Felix beamed, circling around Changbin as they neared the bus stop. "Super neat, right?"

"I...I don't like it."

"What about Binnie then? Or Changbinnie? I like the both of them. You just have to choose--"

Felix's next words went through one of Changbin's ears and out the other, because across the street, a group of students were gathered in front of the school bus. Changbin would've dismissed them, like he usually did, but he recognized two people that he needed to avoid, who were Jisung and Jaeha. They were standing with their friends, surveying the area like they owned it. Changbin internally panicked when Jisung's eyes met his for a brief moment.

"Shit," Changbin muttered. Felix was still talking, and Changbin knew that Jisung and Jaeha had spotted him now for sure. Changbin then proceeded to step inside his bus, gripping Felix's hand to pull him inside.

The Australian immediately stopped talking, wondering why Changbin was acting so frantic. He refrained from saying anything for a few minutes after they'd settled in the bus, but then he couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Hey, Changbin? Why do you look as if you've seen a ghost or something?"

Changbin unattached his hand from Felix's own, not realizing that he'd been holding it until then. Glancing at the taller male, he shook his head. "It's nothing."

 _Why are you not telling me what's really wrong? Don't you trust me?_ Changbin felt like he could almost _hear_ those questions coming from Felix, even if the blond didn't say anything.

Changbin felt guilty once again for something he had no control over, because that was how he dealt with any kind of conflict. He avoided or ignored them, and brushed them under the rug, hoping that they'd never see the light of day again. But it was apparent that he wouldn't be able to ignore _this_ conflict for much longer though.

"...Is it about them?" Felix questioned, pointing to the school bus across the street from them. Jaeha now appeared to be talking to Jisung about something, and it was obvious it wasn't about something good with how pissed off she looked. Jisung answered Jaeha's heated remarks with nonchalant nods, so it was hard to read how he felt about what she was saying.

"Yeah. But you don't need to worry. They just saw you and I together, and I bet they're just angry about that," Changbin explained. He looked up at Felix, but the Australian was still staring at the duo. "Felix."

"I'm not hanging out with them again," Felix finalized, "If what you said is true, and they're pissed because I'm your friend, then I won't speak to them again."

Changbin widened his eyes, before quickly shaking his head. He was as shocked as he was alarmed, because this was what he never wanted at all. He knew how ruthless Jisung and Jaeha could be, so people never messed with them. They'd offered Felix their friendship (which they rarely gave out), so it wouldn't be the best decision for Felix if he stopped hanging out with them because of someone like Changbin.

" _No_ , you shouldn't."

Felix raised his eyebrows at Changbin's answer. "Why?"

"I...I don't want anything you to get hurt, and I don't want to get in the way of you making friends," Changbin admitted, and Felix's previously annoyed expression softened. "Jisung and Jaeha are going to try things, and they're not going to let you off the hook if you choose to stop hanging out with them."

"So you want me to stop being friends with you?"

"...I'm not saying that--"

"Then what are you trying to say? That I should continue hanging out with Jisung and Jaeha even if they and their friends treat you like shit?"

Changbin gritted his teeth, feeling frustrated with Felix's stubborness. "I'm not saying that! I'm just worried about you."

"Don't worry about me, Changbin, or try to protect me," Felix replied. "I don't need it."

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to you..." Changbin whispered, and even though his voice was nearly inaudible, Felix still heard it.

Felix looked taken aback for a few seconds, before a warm smile made its way over his face.

That was what Changbin felt when Felix smiled: _warmth_. No wonder he liked seeing Felix's smile so much. It was what the smile represented, including the sheer beauty of it. Felix's smile never failed to make Changbin speechless.

"Nothing bad's going to happen to me," Felix assured, before wrapping his hand around Changbin's own, which the half demon didn't expect at all. His hold was firm, but not too constricting, and it made Changbin feel the same way he felt whenever he saw Felix's smile. _Warm_. "Okay?"

Changbin nodded, staring at his and Felix's hands. His hand didn't look so bad by itself, but it looked imperfect next to Felix's own. A mismatched puzzle, a clashing sight. Their hands didn't belong together, and they never would be. Changbin pulled his hand away soon after, and focused his gaze outside the window, ignoring Felix until they got off the bus.

Felix's hand somehow found its way in his own again, but unlike last time, Changbin didn't pull away, even with the stares casted their way by some citizens heading the same direction they were.

"Mind doing that temperature controlling thing again?" Felix asked, and Changbin couldn't help but agree to it. Spreading warmth to Felix was easier this time, because their hands were connected, so the transfer was quicker. Once again, Changbin was able to witness first hand the content smile that bloomed on top of Felix's face because of what he did.

Changbin felt sort of accomplished at that, not minding it at all when Felix's grip on his hand increased as they neared the school. Maybe his and Felix's hands didn't match physically, but this, this _felt_ right. Changbin felt amazing when Felix held his hand, gentle happiness trickling up the tip of his fingers and around his chest, resulting in a wildly beating heart.

Half demons didn't have long lifespans, but Changbin felt more alive in that moment than he'd ever felt before.

_______

 

Felix didn't meet Changbin at the back of the school during lunch. For the whole period, Felix had been absent, and Changbin wondered where he was. 

 

It also made the half demon nervous, because what if something bad _had_ happened to Felix? What if Jisung and Jaeha had convinced Felix to stay away from Changbin once and for all? Changbin wondered if Felix was at the cafeteria right now, eating and laughing freely with the people who called themselves his friends. The half demon could imagine that happening.

 

He was just dragging Felix down with him, and eventually he'd have to let Felix go. Felix would get tired of him soon enough, and they'd be nothing more than strangers, just like the first time they met. It was inevitable, so Changbin didn't have any other choice but to accept it. But, why was he so reluctant to imagine his life without Felix in it now?

 

_______

  
Physics was about the only class that Changbin didn't share with Felix, so when he entered the class that afternoon, he retreated to the back to find his seat, only to see that Jisung was occupying it, along with his closest friend Hyunjin.

"What? You want your seat?" Jisung asked, raising one of his eyebrows. Hyunjin just snickered next to him.

Changbin shook his head, and took a seat off to the sids by the windows. He hated those seats, because cold air usually entered through the openings and blew against him.

The half demon could feel Jisung's and Hyunjin's eyes on him, and he tried to ignore them and focus on the teacher's words as she explained Kinematics. It proved to be hard though, especially when Jisung and Hyunjin made fun of him behind his back and threw paper balls at his head, hoping that he'd react.

Changbin didn't know how the teacher hadn't seen what they were doing by now. But then again, Mrs. Kwon was one of those teachers that turned a blind eye to him whenever he got targeted by the other students.

Changbin winced when a paper ball hit his left eye. It fell on the floor, and Changbin looked at it. Half of the ball was scorched with smoke blowing out from it, which shocked the half demon. He hoped no one had seen that.

When Jisung and Hyunjin sensed that Changbin wasn't getting affected by his words, they resorted to targeting the person they knew would get Changbin's attention for sure.

"I can't believe Felix confronted us today and told us to stay away from that demon. He sure had guts to do that," Jisung laughed, making sure that Changbin heard every word. "I would've socked Felix if I had the chance, but I don't want to hurt that pretty face of his. Girls love him."

"They do," Hyunjin agreed. "Wonder if demon boy does too. Probably."

"Obviously," Jisung spat, "but Felix wouldn't like him back, when he's such a _freak_. No one likes demons anyway. They're meant to be alone, or else they'll turn psycho." He paused, laughing. "And that's what demon boy deserves anyway."

 

Changbin tried so, _so_ hard to write down equations in his notebook without his hands quivering, but he failed miserably. The pencil in his hands started disintegrating. 

 

"Bet Felix doesn't know what that demon actually is," Hyunjin spoke up. "That's probably why Felix is still with him until now."

 

" _Obviously_. Felix would run if he saw his true form, and take back all that he said to us." 

 

Changbin's pulse raced, anger and resentment boiling through his veins. The completely destroyed pencil fell from his grip, and Changbin bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying anything that he'd regret.

 

"Uh oh. I think demon boy's getting angry," Jisung sing-songed.

 

Anger and Changbin weren't meant to get along. Anger didn't belong inside Changbin, because it couldn't be controlled. Changbin rarely felt angry, but at this moment, the emotion enclosed around him until he couldn't breathe, until all that he could see was _red_.

 

So when Changbin slammed his hands on his desk and pushed it away with full force, interrupting the teacher's speech, he didn't care that Jisung and Hyunjin at won.

 

The anger in Changbin burned and ignited within him like fire on gasoline. He stood up with balled fists, and the students in the class inched back with fear and shock.

 

Jisung looked amused, while the teacher called out Changbin's name over and over again.

 

"Is this what you wanted?!" Changbin asked Jisung and Hyunjin, his voice two times lower than normal. Anger did that to anyone who had demon blood inside of them.

 

Jisung just smirked. "See? He _is_ a psycho."

 

"Han Jisung!" Mrs. Kwon exclaimed, but Jisung didn't listen.

 

"Can't you see? You're a monster, _Changbin_. I bet if Mrs. Kwon wasn't there, you would've tried to kill us right?" Jisung continued. "Oh, sorry--am I making you cry?"

 

"Jisung, Principal's office. _Now_ ," the teacher commanded, and Jisung stood up, walking past Changbin without a care in the world.

 

Changbin averted his eyes from Hyunjin, who was still smirking, and landed them on the students in his class. Some of them looked frightened, and some even had their phones out. A majority of them carried the same expressions as Jisung and Hyunjin.

 

"Changbin--" Mrs. Kwon called out, but Changbin grabbed his bag and headed out of the classroom, ignoring the murmurs that began to surface.

  
Tears brimmed on the surface of Changbin's eyes and cascaded down his cheeks. They were cold, so, _so_ cold. Demons weren't meant to cry. They weren't supposed to cry, or else they'd get hurt. That was what Changbin's tears were doing to him right now.

Even his body hated him.

_______

 

**Felix:** changbin, are you ok?  
**Felix:** answer me please  
**Felix:** are you fine?  
**Felix:** your mother told me you weren't feeling well  
**Felix:** i hope you're better now  
**Felix:** i heard some students talking about an incident that happened in physics class this afternoon  
**Felix:** they said a guy went crazy in there  
**Felix:** hope it didn't affect you ♡  
**Felix:** you're reading this but not responding  
**Felix:** please respond.  
**Felix:** come to your window. maybe we can talk  
**Felix:** i want to hear your voice  
**Felix:** let's hang out  
**Felix:** please  
**Felix:** why arent you answering me  
**Felix:** just an 'i'm good' is enough for me  
**Felix:** okay  
**Felix:** i'm probably annoying you  
**Felix:** i'm sorry  
**Felix:** but on the bright side, i told jisung and jaeha and their friends to leave you alone  
**Felix:** please text me back  
**Felix:** can i call you?

 

**Changbin:** don't

 

**Felix:** why?

 

**Changbin:** i don't want to talk to you right now

 

**Felix:** are you okay?

 

**Changbin:** leave me alone

 

**Felix:** you don't mean that

 

**Changbin:** i don't want us to talk to each other again  
**Changbin:** i don't want us to be friends anymore  
**Changbin:** leave me alone  
**Changbin:** you dont need me as a friend  
**Changbin:** you have jaeha and jisung  
**Changbin:** stay away from me

 

**Felix:** changbin  
**Felix:** dont do this  
**Felix:** why would i stop being friends with you

 

**Changbin:** fucking leave me alone, goddamit!  
**Changbin:** it's what i deserve anyway  
**Changbin:** i dont need anyone  
**Changbin:** i was perfectly fine without you in my life

 

**Felix:** please  
**Felix:** you dont mean it

 

**_BLOCK FELIX?_ **

 

**_ YES _ ** **_| NO_ **

 

**_USER HAS BEEN BLOCKED!_ **


	8. hide ; vii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's really hard, so hard at times, for Changbin to listen to his feelings.

Changbin didn't see a point in going to school the next day, so he didn't. His mother didn't disagree with his decision, because that wasn't the first time something like this happened.

He spent most of the time in his room, trying not to feel anything and trying not to regret ever blocking Felix's number. It wasn't that hard to do. Changbin just had to disconnect from his feelings and emotions, and he was all set. It made him feel like a stranger in his own body, but that made him deal with his situation a lot better.

Since Changbin didn't come down from his room a lot, he didn't really know what was going on in the living room. He hoped his mother wouldn't let Felix see him, because that was the last thing he wanted. He wouldn't want anyone seeing him in this vulnerable state he was in.

When 12 PM arrived, all Changbin could think about was when he ate at the back of the school with Felix next to him, the blond talking about something that usually didn't make sense. Felix talked about too many random topics, so it was hard to keep up with him sometimes. Changbin liked those times, but now, he wouldn't get to experience them again.

 _It's for the best_ , Changbin thought. Felix was better off without him anyway.

_______

 

When evening came around, Changbin's curtains were pulled down, as they usually were whenever nighttime drew near. He never wanted his room to get cold, because once it did, it'll be hard to restore the room's original warmth.

 

His room was also getting dark, but Changbin didn't move from his spot on the bed to turn on the lights. 

 

His mother came in a few moments later to ask if he wanted to eat his dinner now, to which he replied that he'll take it later. His mother nodded, before shutting the door once more. She always listened to him, and always let him to what he wanted because she trusted him that much. But sometimes, Changbin wondered if her willingness to listen to him stemmed from a fear that he'd hurt her if he wasn't allowed to do what he wanted. Afterall, he was a monster, as Jisung had said.

 

Listening to his thoughts would achieve nothing beneficial in the long run (because every single one of them was negative), so Changbin blocked them out for the time being, and instead listened to his heartbeat. 

 

It was steady and predictable, and very slow, which was usual for demon hybrids like him. The only time his heart would beat quickly was when he was enraged, or when he was in love. 

 

He remembered his heart racing when he got angry at Jisung and Hyunjin yesterday, and he remembered his heart beating at the same pace when Felix held his hand or smiled at him.

 

What did that mean? Was he _in love_ with Felix? Changbin shook his head. No, he wasn't. He and Felix hadn't even known each other for a month, and he couldn't like someone like Felix. Felix wasn't interested in Changbin like that anyway.

 

A soft thump distracted Changbin from his thoughts, and he stared at the curtain blocking him from the view of Felix's house.

 

A balled up paper was next to the drawer that Changbin usually stored his books in, and Changbin walked up to it and took the paper. He opened it up, feeling confused yet curious as to what was inside.

 

_Hey Changbin, it's Felix. Are you doing good in there? I couldn't text or call you since you blocked me :(_

 

_I'm sorry for bugging you, but I hate seeing you sad, okay?_

 

_I know I won't be able to get you to talk to me today, so just do something for me_

 

_Smile, okay? You'll feel better, trust me_

 

_I'd love to see your smile. I bet it's beautiful_

 

_Sorry if this letter(?) is so short. Another one's coming in a few seconds_

 

As soon as Changbin was done reading, another paper ball entered through the window. The half demon didn't know how Felix managed to get them inside his room without missing, considering the distance between their rooms.

 

_Changbin, are you smiling?_

 

Changbin wished he wasn't.

 

_I know you're reading this, even if you aren't responding._  
_Okay. Compliment time:_

 

_As I said before, I really like your eyes. They get really dark at night, and reflect the stars in the sky. I remember when I took that walk with you. It was almost as if I could literally see the stars in your eyes._

 

_They're really expressive too. I know when you're happy or sad just by looking at them._

 

_When you're happy, they shine, and crinkle at the sides, forming pretty little crescents._

 

_When you're sad, it's almost as if they're hidden by boundaries, and they become hard to read. They lose their smile, and they don't sparkle anymore._

 

_I like it when you're happy, even if I haven't seen your smile yet, because that means I get to witness the galaxy in your eyes._

 

_Are you smiling yet?_

 

_It's okay if you aren't. I'm just glad that you were able to read this._

 

_Have a nice night Changbin._

 

In the house opposite the half demons's own, Felix perched himself on the window sill, liking the feeling of the cool wind blowing against his hair. Maybe that was why Changbin wasn't out today; because the atmosphere was so cold.

 

He stared hopefully at Changbin's window, and hoped that the shorter would pull those curtains apart and reveal himself to Felix.

 

The Australian hoped too much, because Changbin did not show up, and the level of disappointment that followed afterwards was alarming.

 

_______

 

Changbin didn't go to school the next day either, because he still wasn't ready to face anyone. He promised himself that he'd go to school tomorrow, but for now he'd spend his day wallowing in his misery because he didn't know how to do anything else. 

 

Felix came inside his house today. Changbin knew this because he overheard Felix and Changbin's mother talking when he was walking towards the living room to get something to eat. He quickly changed his plan and ran back into his room before Felix could see him.

 

Changbin hoped that if he continued doing this, then Felix would leave him alone, because the Australian didn't deserve to be treated like how he was being treated by Changbin. Jaeha and Jisung wouldn't ignore Felix or pretend that he didn't exist, like how Changbin was doing.

 

Changbin missed Felix's smile.

 

_______

 

Changbin's mother had left a note in the kitchen stating that she needed some ingredients and if Changbin would get them for her, along with the money that he needed. What he needed to buy was already listed, and he already knew the supermarket he had to go into.

 

With a heavy heart and a tight chest, Changbin quickly showered and dressed up, not forgetting to wear his beanie and mask, as usual. 

 

He ignored everyone and everything when he entered the bus that was going to take him to town, and the people surrounding him ignored him too. As soon as the bus stopped movie Changbin got out, along with some girl that he'd never seen before.

 

She had bright red hair that looked silky in the sunlight, but that wasn't what drew Changbin's eyes to her. It was her ears. They were pointy and very prominent, along with her bright hazel eyes. She had earphones in both of her ears, and bobbed her head to the music coming from them while simultaneously ignoring the judgemental looks she got from the passers-by. 

 

It was obvious that she was an Elf, but people like her weren't really common around here. Her ears commanded too much attention, but she wasn't hiding it. In fact, she wasn't hiding any part of herself that would prevent anyone from seeing who she really was, unlike Changbin.

 

"Sorry," Changbin muttered when their shoulders accidentally touched. He didn't even know why he was apologizing when the girl wouldn't even hear him anyway.

 

Surprisingly, she turned to watch him, and smiled. It was a kind of smile that revealed she knew more than she was letting on. It was almost as if she could _read_ Changbin, and know what he'd passed through just by a single glance.

 

She nodded at the demon hybrid, as if saying, _It's okay_. You're _okay_ , and then she went her way.

 

Changbin was confused as to what had just happened. The Elf looked at him as if she knew him, and the smile she'd given him was encouraging and sweet, despite how brief it was.

 

The girl's smile comforted him for a while because at least she could relate to him, even if he'd probably never see her again.

 

_______

 

As soon as Changbin entered the supermarket, he grabbed a basket and busied himself with finding the ingredients he needed to buy. 

 

Soft, gentle music filled the place, and it calmed Changbin, since he'd always liked that type of music. He'd managed to get most of the ingredients, but then he encountered problems in getting the last one because it was placed too far up, and he couldn't get it even if he tip-toed.

 

It was embarrassing, but it wasn't like he could decide not to buy it. He had to find a way to get that bottle of seasoning, but he didn't know how.

 

A guy grabbed one of them at that moment, startling Changbin. The half demon looked at him to see his face, but it was obviously useless because the guy's face was covered with a mask too. But unlike Changbin, he had a cap on instead of a beanie. 

 

"Did you want this?" The guy asked, pointing to the bottle in his hands.

 

Changbin nodded, and the guy gave it to him. "Thanks."

 

"You're welcome."

 

Changbin prepared to leave when the guy told him to wait. He stopped, watching as the stranger neared him and stared at him.

 

"Uh, your eyes--they're very familiar," the stranger continued. "I have them too. See?"

 

Slightly red irises stared back at Changbin, and the half demon kept on looking, very surprised. 

 

"Are you perhaps a demon hybrid too?" The guy asked, his eyes forming half shaped moons. He was smiling.

 

"Y-Yes," Changbin admitted. He inwardly wanted to facepalm himself, because he'd never seen this guy before and he was already telling him what kind of hybrid he was. 

 

"Me too," the guy replied. "My name is Chan, by the way. What's yours?"

 

"Changbin. I...have to go now."

 

Chan nodded, but he followed Changbin to where the cashiers were located and waited for the half demon to buy the stuff he needed. 

 

"Are you going home now? Sorry if I'm being intrusive," Chan chuckled, "but I haven't came across another half demon before. I'm half demon, half human. You?"

 

Changbin tightened his hold on his bag of ingredients. "The same."

 

"Coincidence that we met here, right?"

 

Changbin stared at Chan, who had now pulled down his mask as soon as they'd stepped out of the supermarket. Chan looked human for the most part, but everything became obvious when he grinned, which exposed his teeth. It was the canines that gave it away. 

  
"Yeah."

"Uhm, I'm guessing you have somewhere to be, but I'd like us to talk sometime," Chan said. "Can I have your number?"

Changbin nodded. He had more of a reason to trust Chan, now that the taller prove to be an actual demon hybrid. "Sure."

Chan grinned again, and after they'd exchanged numbers he left, leaving Changbin to his thoughts.

He'd met two different creatures that weren't human today, which was more than he'd ever encountered in quite some time.

_______

 

When Changbin finally came back home, it was getting late, so he quickly ran up the front steps only to stop in his tracks when he spotted Felix next to the door.

 

"Hey," Felix smiled once seeing him.

 

Changbin shoved his hands into his pockets, and greeted the Australian too. "Hi."

 

"Uh, your mom wasn't home, and I knocked and no one answered, so I figured you'd left too. So..."

 

"So you waited," Changbin finished.

 

Felix nodded. "Okay, that must seem very stalkerish of me, but I swear I have a good reason."

 

Changbin walked towards the door, and brought out the keys.  
"What is it?"

 

"I missed you."

 

Changbin stopped moving. "You didn't."

 

"I did. I missed you so much."

 

Changbin finally unlocked the door and opened it.

 

"Can I come in?" Felix asked.

 

"...Where are your parents?"

 

"On a date," the taller grinned, and even though Changbin's mind told him to not let Felix inside the house, he ended up doing so anyway.

 

Changbin blamed it on how cold outside was, because Felix would surely start freezing if he stayed out too long. He was just being considerate. That didn't mean that he'd suddenly start talking to Felix again. 

  
"I feel warm again," Felix beamed, dramatically collapsing on the couch. He looked up at Changbin's form and grinned. "Thanks for letting me in, Changbin."

Changbin just shrugged, and entered the kitchen to put the ingredients where they were supposed to be. After he was done, he turned around only to see Felix standing just a few feet away from him. Momentary panic coursed through his veins at seeing the Australian so close to him, and it didn't help that Felix started laughing right that second.

"I got my revenge alright," Felix remarked, and Changbin walked past him, anger and shame influencing his movement. "Changbin? Do you want to talk?"

Changbin shrugged, heading in the direction of his room.

"...Do you want me to leave?"

Changbin paused, looking back at Felix. The younger's expression was an odd mixture of nervousness and hope, and Changbin found himself looking away. "I don't know."

Guilt flooded Changbin's system when Felix nodded.

"Okay."

"Felix..."

Felix walked up to Changbin and pulled him in for a hug, which confused Changbin because he rarely got hugs, and the one Felix was giving him now made him feel weird. And safe. And _okay_. Felix's hair grazed the back of Changbin's neck, and it tickled, but also burned at the same time. Felix's racing heartbeat felt irregular against Changbin's slow one, but they somehow worked well together.

What was happening?

"I'll see you tomorrow at school Changbin. That is, if you're coming," Felix said the second he pulled away. His arms stayed a moment too long on Changbin's waist, but the shorter didn't mind it. "You should come. School's lonely without you."

Changbin nodded. "Okay."

Felix then released Changbin from his hold, and shot a small smile at the older male before heading towards the door. "I'll, uh, see you later, I guess."

"Felix?"

Felix bit his lip. "Yeah?"

 _Stay a little longer._ "I'll...see you at school tomorrow."

Felix gave him a thumbs up, before disappearing.

Changbin wasn't sure what conjured up this next thought, but he felt like an idiot. A really big one.

 


	9. hide ; viii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin likes talking to Felix and listening to his heartbeat.

Changbin didn't go to school the next day, as promised. He just found himself not in the mood to face his classmates, so he retreated inside his bed and didn't leave it because he had nothing else to do.

Felix would've been expecting him at school today, but Changbin wasn't going to be there because he dreaded going back to that school, and he was _scared_.

The half demon just hoped that Felix wouldn't be too angry at him, which slightly surprised him, because since when did Felix make him rethink his decisions? Since when did Felix make Changbin feel like such a bad person for ignoring him?

Changbin stared at his phone across the room. He still hadn't unblocked Felix's number yet, and he didn't feel like doing it either. If he let Felix into his life again, things way worse than what had happened on Wednesday would take place, and Changbin didn't want Felix to get involved in it at all. He found himself being glad that Felix wasn't in that Physics class, because then the Australian would have an actual reason to stay away from him. Felix would've seen the part of him that Changbin had always tried to hide, and he'd be afraid and leave.

 

 

 

_______

 

 

 

 

The house quickly got lonely because it had no other inhabitants apart from Changbin, and he found himself wondering what would've happened if he'd listened to Felix and came to school today. Would they be hanging out right now? Or sitting together in different classes while Felix tried to distract him from the teacher whenever they walked in? Changbin didn't know.

 

 

 

 

He really wished he'd came to school today now. It wouldn't even matter if Jisung or Jaeha targeted him, because he'd get to see Felix and just _be_ next to him. It wasn't hard for Changbin to feel relaxed next to the taller. As weird as it sounded, whenever he was with Felix, he felt like the funniest, most interesting, and most special person in the world, because Felix paid attention to him and listened to what he had to say.

 

 

 

 

The Australian prioritized him over everyone else, and no one else could gain Felix's attention quicker than Changbin did, even if the older wasn't as open as other people. It never ceased to amaze Changbin, because why did Felix like him so much when he'd never seen how he looked like?

 

 

 

 

The only reason Changbin started pushing Felix away was because he didn't want Felix to get hurt, and because that incident in Physics class had pushed him to his limit. But now, he felt like _he_ was the one getting hurt.

 

 

 

 

He needed Felix more than he thought, and that realization frightened him, because he knew he was now attached. Felix could now hurt him if he wanted, because he'd gotten closer to him than anyone else had ever gotten before. That brought a sense of vulnerability upon Changbin, even more so now that the half demon figured he couldn't do anything about it.

 

 

 

 

_______

 

 

 

 

Changbin knew he couldn't face Felix when he saw the Australian opening the door to his house from his window. The human was doned in a green stripped shirt and black jeans, and he looked good.

 

 

 

 

Changbin had always known the taller could look great in anything, but he'd never gave it a second thought. Now, however, all he could do was notice how Felix's shirt worked well with his skin tone, and pray that Felix wouldn't catch him staring.

 

 

 

 

Felix didn't. He entered his house with a neutral expression on his face and closed the door.

 

 

 

 

Suddenly loud sounds of hurried footsteps reverberated through the house, and before Changbin knew it, the curtains blocking Felix's room were pulled apart, revealing Felix himself.

 

 

 

 

Changbin quickly ducked under the window and hid away from sight, which was kind of pointless really, because he bet Felix had already seen him, and he wasn't wearing his mask.

 

 

 

 

"Stop hiding," Felix called out, "I know you're in there."

 

 

 

 

When Changbin didn't answer, Felix continued speaking.

 

 

 

 

"Why didn't you follow me to school today? I waited for you, but when you didn't show up, I just assumed you were running late or something. But you didn't show up at all. Why?"

  
Changbin could hear Felix's sigh a few seconds later.

"Unblock me. If you don't want to talk to me in person, then we can just text. I can send you the notes from the classes you missed too. Just unblock me, please."

"Changbin," Felix continued, "you want me to stop talking to you, or start ignoring you? If that's what you want, then I'm sorry, because I can't do it. Unblock me. Now."

"If you want me to shout it out loud, then I'd do it. Changbin! Please unblock me, I'm begging you! I'm sorry that our classmates are such assholes! So please, JUST UNBLOCK ME!"

If Felix continued, the neighbours were going to complain, and they didn't take noise very lightly. Changbin didn't want to go through them thinking it was him causing the noise ever again. So, he quickly grabbed his phone, and proceeded to unblock Felix.

"UNBLOCK M--Oh, okay. You actually did," Felix paused, sounding surprised and relieved. "Thanks, Chang."

Changbin sighed, and leaned his head against the wall.

"If you don't want to talk, we can always text," Felix finalized. He didn't say anything else after, and Changbin assumed that he went back inside for the time being.

 

 

 

_______

 

 

 

 

Changbin stopped sketching a random pair of eyes after his phone displayed a notification on it. He checked the message a few seconds later.

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** i've always wondered  
**Felix:** if you can fall in love with someone without seeing their physical appearance  
**Felix:** do you think it's true?

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** i dont know  
**Changbin:** maybe they'll just fall in love with the person's personality

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** maybe

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** why are you asking anyway?

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** i'm just curious ;)

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** why are you winking

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** i got something in my eye

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** are you serious?

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** i am  
**Felix:** do you want to come over to make sure?

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** no  
**Changbin:** it's too cold outside

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** you really dont like the cold, do you

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** i cant help it

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** what kind of hybrid are you?

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** why do you want to know

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** because i'm curious

 

 

**Felix:** whoops wrong emoji  
**Felix:** ;3

 

**Changbin:** ...  
**Changbin:** i'm a demon hybrid...

 

 

Changbin couldn't believe he pressed send on that. He watched with anxious eyes as 'seen' appeared underneath the message.

 

 

Possible reactions included Felix being repulsed at that fact, Felix avoiding him afterwards because of that fact, or Felix feeling sorry for him. Changbin desperately hoped that Felix wouldn't react like the last one.

  
_Felix is typing..._

 **Felix:** really? i didn't expect that

 

**Changbin:** why?

 

 

**Felix:** i had so many possibilities of what hybrid you were, but a demon hybrid was never one of them

 

 

**Changbin:** is that a bad thing?

 

 

**Felix:** nope  
**Felix:** no wonder you dont like the cold  
**Felix:** hey,,  
**Felix:** wanna sleep over at my house tonight? my parents wont mind

 

 

Changbin almost declined, but then he thought about how he'd treated Felix these past two days. If he kept on pushing Felix away and disregarding his feelings, he'd become the asshole he'd always tried not to be. Plus, there was no reason for Changbin to feel so on-edge. He was just staying over at Felix's place, and that didn't mean anything.

 

 

It didn't mean anything at all.

 

 

**Changbin:** okay

 

 

**Felix:** thanks!

 **Felix:** i dont know if you can tell, but i'm smiling right now

**Felix:** you won't regret it. trust me.

 

**Changbin:** okay :)

 

_______

 

Felix's parents were as nice as Felix, if not more. They smiled welcomingly when they saw Changbin, and didn't seem to mind that he had half his face covered up. They were friendly, but not to the point of being nosy.

 

"I want to take Changbin upstairs now," Felix told them, his arm around Changbin's shoulders. It almost made the half demon feel light-headed with how heavy yet comfortable Felix's arm was. "Wanna show him my room."

 

"Sure. But don't forget about dinner," Felix's father informed, his mother nodding along too.

 

"I won't!" Felix replied, pulling Changbin up the stairs until they entered the room that was Felix's own. 

 

The first thing Changbin noticed was how wide and cool Felix's room was. The room would've been dark too, if not for the red lava lamps that decorated the corners. Felix flicked on the light switch, and the room was immediately lit up in a white glow, which completely rendered the lava lamps useless.

 

"Tada!" Felix said, walking around the room before turning to face Changbin, "Do you like it?"

 

Changbin nodded yes, and he actually meant it. The sight of Felix's room from his window really didn't do the room justice at all. Although the room possessed things that normal teenager usually had (like drawers with books and overflowing bits of paper on them, different articles of clothing strewn on the chairs and the closet, and a slightly unkempt bed), it still held its own personal touch to it, like those lava lamps. "Yeah. Especially the lava lamps."

  
Felix walked up to them, before unplugging them from the sockets. "Oops, don't wanna leave them on too long," he chuckled. After he was done, he made eye contact with Changbin. "I really like red lava lamps. Red's my favourite colour."

"Why?"

Felix sat on the bed (which just so happened to have a red bed sheet over it), and shrugged. "I just like it. Since you're like, a demon hybrid, do you like red too?"

"I like red. But it's not my favourite colour."

"So what colour's your fave?"

"I don't have a favourite colour."

"Felix and Changbin, dinner's ready!" Felix's mother called from downstairs, disrupting their conversation.

Felix immediately stood up and walked past Changbin, but not before holding his hand. "Coming!" Looking at Changbin, he said, "You don't mind pasta, right? Every Friday's pasta day."

Changbin shook his head. "I don't."

Felix grinned, bringing Changbin down the stairs with him.

_______

 

"And this," Felix pointed to Changbin's window, "is how I manage to get my paper messages through your window. I wait until the wind blows in the right direction, and it helps me navigate them to your window at the right angle."

 

Felix folded his arms on the window sill, and Changbin copied his actions. Both males wordlessly stared at the closed window, and then at the silent neighbourhood, and then at the moon.

 

Felix broke the silence first. "I'm sorry for shouting at you to unblock me this afternoon."

 

Changbin shook his head, unable to cover up the sound of his laughter. "It's no biggie. It was funny, anyway."

 

Felix looked at Changbin, a content smile taking over his lips. "Yeah. It kinda was."

 

"Your voice gets high pitched when you scream."

 

"It does _not_."

 

"It _does_."

 

Felix shook his head, placing both his hands on Changbin's shoulders. "I don't believe you."

 

Changbin shrugged, glad that the mask covered almost all of his face because he didn't want to reveal how affected he got from Felix's touches. 

 

"Your ears are red," Felix commented, a knowing smile taking over his face. His eyes lit up, and a pinkish tint bathed his cheeks. Was Felix blushing too?

 

Changbin decided to ignore Felix's comment entirely, and took a giant step back, which highly surprised Felix. "I want to sleep now."

 

Since Felix's room was cool, Felix had lent Changbin one of his thickest sweaters, and it fit the half demon snugly, despite his and Felix's difference in height.

 

"But the fun's just begun," Felix whined.

 

Changbin ignored Felix once again, and got on Felix's bed (the bed was wide enough for three people), marvelling at how soft the mattress felt. He closed his eyes, not opening them even when Felix turned off the lights. 

 

"Changbin? You awake?" 

 

Changbin shook his head, and Felix laughed.

 

"...I think it's true," Felix stated after some time. Changbin opened his eyes and saw the silhouette of Felix next to him, facing the ceiling. 

 

"What is?"

 

"Falling in love with someone without knowing much about their physical appearance."

 

Changbin shrugged. "Okay. Why do you suddenly think so?"

 

Felix looked at him. "Because I think I'm in love."

 

Changbin froze in his spot, before chuckling lightly. "Really? With whom?"

 

Felix shrugged. "You wouldn't want to know."

 

Changin bit his lip before asking, "Is it Jaeha?"

 

"What?" Felix sputtered. "Never. And I already know her and her horrible attitude."

 

"Oh." Why did Changbin feel so relieved? "Who is it then?"

 

"You'd have to guess~" Felix sing-songed.

 

"Then I give up."

 

Felix turned to face him again, before taking Changbin's hand in his. "Do you wanna hold my hand?"

 

"S-Sure..."

 

Felix smiled, before drawing closer to Changbin. His hand held on to Changbin's own like an anchor and soon enough Felix closed his eyes. Changbin couldn't stop looking at the Australian, couldn't stop thinking about how his worries seemed to evaporate into thin air with Felix so close to him. Time seemed to stand still whenever he was with Felix, and nothing else mattered at that moment apart from the steady rise and fall of Felix's chest. 

 

"Fall asleep, dummy," Felix's voice woke Changbin up from his trance, and the half demon looked away, embarrassed.

 

"I can't."

 

"Then I'll help you." Felix pulled Changbin closer, their legs tangled and their heartbeats soaring. 

 

Changbin's heart was beating too fast. Way too fast. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control, but still steady on its feet at the same time. He couldn't help but finally relax when he sank his head on Felix's chest, the older's warm arms still secured around him. Their breaths intermingled to form this familiar rhythm, and everything became calm.

 

Changbin liked this.


	10. hide ; ix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin meets Chan's friends, who are also like him.

Changbin's eyes slowly fluttered open, gradually adjusting to the brightness of the room he was in. He then blinked, internal alarms blaring in his head when he realized the position he was in.

 

Throughout the course of the night Felix's limbs had managed to get even more tangled with Changbin. The half demon didn't know how or when that happened, because it wasn't like he'd been able to catch some sleep with how close Felix had been to him.

  
Changbin bit back a gasp, before gently prying Felix's arms off him. It was hard, but he didn't want to wake Felix up just yet. It was still early, as far as Changbin could see. After he did so, he sat up on the bed and watched how Felix basically grabbed for the nearest thing to him, which happened to be a pillow.

Changbin chuckled at Felix's cuteness, but then stopped, because he didn't want the Australian to hear him. He slid off the bed, and silently made his way into the nearest bathroom, hoping that no one else was around.

As soon as he entered, he pulled off his mask and quickly washed his face to get rid of any tiredness that could've been left.

Then he looked up at the mirror in front of him, and for once he didn't experience the brief feeling of digust he usually felt when he saw his face. He looked at his face from a neutral point of view.

He still looked the same, safe for the tiny blotches of red tinting his cheeks due to the cold water he'd washed his face with. His fangs weren't _that_ visible, since he wasn't talking or smiling, and his eyes were red.

Really red. It was so recognizable, that Changbin almost scared himself by looking at them. Why were they so vibrant and noticeable? He wasn't angry, and he wasn't threatened either. He felt fine, his heart was beating steadily, and he was even trying to hide his smile, all because of a certain Australian.

Were his eyes red because of something else entirely? Despite being a demon hybrid, Changbin didn't know a lot about people like him except for the basic information that his mother graced him with when he was younger. He'd never looked up anything else about half demons on the internet to know more about his kind, because he didn't want to embrace that part of himself. He'd always been shamed for it, so over the years he started to loathe what he was. He suddenly remembered Chan, a fellow half demon, and wondered if the taller had the answer as to why his eyes were being like this.

Several knocks snapped Changbin out of his thoughts. "Is someone in there?"

The half demon could recognize that deep, raspy voice anywhere. "Uh, I--I'm inside."

"Oh," Changbin could almost hear the smile in Felix's voice, "well, good morning, Changbin."

"Good morning." Changbin quickly brought his mask up his face, shielding his nose and lips from view, but his bright red eyes were still visible. He disn't know what he could do about them. "Tone it down, goddammit," he mumbled.

"Did you say anything?" Felix asked.

Changbin shook his head. "I-I didn't. Uh--" he walked up to the door and quickly opened it, making sure that Felix would not be able to see his eyes. "You can use the bathroom now."

Felix gave him a thumbs up. "Okay. Just wanna brush my teeth." His head slightly cocked to the side and his eyebrows knitted together. Gently nudging Changbin's shoulder, he asked, "Hey, Changbin?"

"Uhm, yes?"

"Why are you avoiding my eyes?" Obviously Felix had noticed, just like how Felix always noticed whenever something was off with Changbin.

Changbin shook his head, before he started walking away. "I'm not avoiding your eyes."

To the shorter's surprise, Felix suddenly spun him around until their faces were just mere centimeters away from each other. Felix's neutral expression switched into one of clear wonder when his eyes fell on Changbin's own.

"...Woah."

Changbin was too stunned to move for a couple of seconds, but soon enough he realized the situation he was in and unattached himself from Felix's grip. "Why...why did you do that?"

Felix's eyes widened in momentary panic. "I'm--I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pull you like that. I just...wanted to know why you didn't want to look at me."

Changbin knew Felix hadn't meant any harm, and he was just being curious, but that didn't stop Changbin from feeling that his privacy just got invaded. He was ready for Felix to feel afraid of what he saw, and realize fully that he was in fact, friends with a _demon_. One that could be dangerous and unsafe to be around when provoked.

"I...I bet they creeped you out, right?" Changbin questioned. "I'd understand it if you were. They creeped me out too."

"I wasn't creeped out."

"You're lying," Changbin replied, "your eyes widened when you saw how red my eyes were, as if you couldn't believe what you were seeing."

"Yes I was surprised," Felix admitted, taking a step closer to Changbin, "but I wasn't scared. Your eyes don't scare me. I like them. I like red things, remember?"

Changbin exhaled a breath, realizing how dumb his argument was. He'd just revealed just how insecure he was with his looks, and the last person he wanted to show that side of himself to had witnessed it. "I...I should go."

"Wait, you aren't staying for breakfast?" Felix asked, unable to keep the frown off his face.

"No. I live next door anyway. Thanks for making me stay over, and tell your parents I really liked their food yesterday night," Changbin said, before fidding with the sweater he had on him. "...I should probably give this sweater back to you too."

Felix shook his head. "No. You can keep it. I have too many sweaters anyway."

Changbin felt like kicking himself, because now he couldn't shake off the look of disappointment on Felix's face, and he didn't know what he could do about it. "...Okay."

Felix saw Changbin off at the door, since his parents still weren't up, and Changbin hurried inside his house to escape Felix's gaze.

"How was the sleep over?" Changbin's mother asked as soon as she opened the door for her son. "And why are you back so early?"

"It was...okay, and I missed you too much," Changbin replied after he yanked off his mask.

His mother laughed, gently patting Changbin's hair. "I know that was probably not the real reason, but I'll still take it."

"I'm going out today," Changbin said after a couple of moments.

"With Felix?"

Changbin shook his head, suddenly feeling as if someone had punched him in the gut. He was experiencing the cliche butterflies everyone always talked about. "No. It's someone else. I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Don't forget to eat breakfast!" Changbin's mother called out to him while he sped up the stairs.

"I won't!" Changbin must've ran too fast, because he almost tripped on his two feet. Ignoring the embarrassment rippling through his chest, he continued walking, decreasing his pace this time.

_______

 

**Changbin:** you wont mind if we meet up today, right

 

**Chan:** nope. i wont mind at all :)

 

**Changbin:** thank you

 

_______

 

"So... Hi," Changbin muttered while taking the seat in front of Chan. The taller male smiled in response, before taking a sip out of his coffee.

 

"Hi, Changbin. What's up?" Chan asked. He was really friendly and chatty, Changbin realized, with the way he always tried to engage him in their conversation, just like how it was when they first met. 

 

"I'm good." 

 

The coffee shop they were in was nearly empty with customers, and it was location in an area that Changbin wasn't familiar with. Gingerly, he took off his mask, feeling a bit strange. He was so used to covering his face that when he didn't, he felt unusual and exposed. 

 

"Would you like anything to drink? You can get coffee, if you want," Chan suggested, but Changbin shook his head.

 

"Actually," Changbin started, taking off the shades he'd been wearing, "I need your help."

 

Chan stopped drinking his coffee when he took notice of Changbin's eyes. "Woah. How did that happen?"

 

"I don't know," Changbin sighed. "They weren't like this yesterday. I just saw them like this this morning, so I was wondering if you could maybe tell me why they're like this...?"

  
Chan looked thoughtful as he placed his coffee on the table. "I uh, I'm not that sure, actually. I've never had those kind of eyes before, except when I got really angry at my friend when I was small."

"But...I'm not angry."

"I guess that maybe you're experiencing some other intense emotion? That could be the reason for it."

_Intense emotion?_ Changbin wasn't feeling anything else apart from neutral at the moment, and sure, he was happy this morning, but it wasn't the intense kind of happiness. It was more on the calm, subtle side that snuck up on you when you least expected it.

" _Or_ ," Chan continued, a slight frown taking over his face, "it can mean your body's like, trying to process everything that's happening to you all at once, and your eyes are one of the side effects."

Changbin nodded. Chan kind of made sense.

Chan suddenly sighed. "...You know all about us half demon's short life spans, right?"

"Yeah..." Changbin knew all about it, and it hadn't really troubled him before, but now it was starting to, especially with Chan's grave expression.

"So, maybe your eyes have something to do with that. Have you been feeling weird lately? Like, changes in sleep schedules, loss of appetite, or feeling weak and tired?"

"I...I kinda sleep a lot now, more than I used to. Especially in the afternoon. Should I be worried?"

Chan shrugged, which didn't help matters at all. "I don't know, but I also don't want to give you false hope. A couple of my friends know more about demons that I do. Would you like to meet them?"

Changbin shakily nodded. He didn't like the new information he'd just been given, and he felt a bit unsteady. If bad news awaited him at where he was going, he wouldn't know how to deal with that.

"So, Changbin," Chan started as soon as they left the shop. His tone was oddly chirpy for the news he'd just delivered to Changbin. "Have you noticed more hybrids and otherworldly creatures lately?"

Changbin nodded, remembering the hybrid lady and the Elf. He wasn't in the mood to say anything though.

"Well, there's a side of this town that few people know about. I'm telling you about it since you're a hybrid too. It's nearing the time of year, which is November, when different creatures that aren't human would gather up and have fun and all that jazz. It's at a particular venue called Viribus, and I live around there with my friends. Viribus is latin for strength, if you don't know."

Changbin tried to process everything that Chan had just said, feeling surprised. After all the time he'd lived and grew up here, he'd never heard about a place called Viribus. He'd just assumed that he would be the only non-human creature for a long time, and that he'd never get to meet another demon hybrid who was just like him. "Okay."

"First, we take this bus," Chan instructed as they neared an unfamiliar bus stop. They entered a navy blue bus and sat at the back. That was when Changbin realized that his face was uncovered.

As if Chan had read his mind, he placed his hand on Changbin's when the latter was about to take out his mask. "You don't need to. Nobody cares around here."

"...Oh." Changbin felt incredibly strange. He forgot how it was to breathe without feeling restricted by the thin material of a mask, and forgot how it felt to not worry about people casting second glances at him when they saw him. The people entering the bus didn't even look Changbin's way, and the half demon never thought he'd like it so much.

Chan briefed him on all the buildings they passed, and Changbin noticed the gradual increase of hybrids and other otherworldly creatures the more distance the bus covered. They were walking around freely with their friends and family, without any inhibitions or fear seeping off of them. How hadn't Changbin known about this place earlier?

The bus dropped them off a few minutes later, and Changbin took the time to admire his surroundings. The buildings looked brighter and more abstract, in comparison to the structural and coventional buildings his town possessed.

"My apartment's not that far away," Chan spoke, which prompted Changbin to nod.

Changbin's eyes fell on a little girl hopping next to them, a colourful lollipop inside her mouth. Her face was a bright maroon colour, and her eyes were a striking red. Small horns potruded from her long black hair, and she was grinning, revealing a set of rather sharp canines. When she noticed Changbin's eyes on her, she shyly looked away, and headed the other direction.

She was a full demon, and she was out and about, unafraid to show off her face. Unafraid to show _who_ she was.

She made everything look easy, and it made Changbin wonder why he'd been hiding his face all these years when he could've been like that little girl instead. But then the answer came to him before he even finished his thoughts.

It was all because of the people he was surrounded with.

The little girl didn't grow up where he did, and that was why she was so confident in herself now.

"We're here!" Chan exclaimed, drawing Changbin out of his thoughts.

They stood in front of a rather small apartment that was nicely painted. It was made of brick and looked highly stable. Changbin wondered how many people lived inside it.

He and Chan walked up to the door, and the taller male knocked on it. They waited a few seconds before the door was flung open to reveal a male with a big smile on his face.

His eyes were alert, and his ears made it known that he was an Elf, along with his unconventional clothes. His smile disappeared once he saw Changbin. "Who's this?"

"Seungmin, this is Changbin. He's a demon hybrid, and he wants some answers." Chan dragged Changbin inside the apartment, and Seungmin moved out of the way to let them in.

The apartment looked bigger inside than it did outside. Lots of furniture decorated the place, and pictures of various pieces of artwork were hung on the wall. Everything looked busy, and Changbin swore he saw three other guys running around the vincinity.

"Who is this?" A calm sounding voice asked, startling Changbin. A brown haired male appeared before him, and he had similar ears to Seungmin. One side of his face was also littered with golden glitter, which oddly worked well with him.

"Woojin, this is Changbin." Chan introduced.

Woojin waved, his hazel coloured eyes regarding Changbin's own pair with curiosity and...worry.

Changbin knew all about how elves could read people really well, and could sense any kind of problem with them when they met them, so that made him a bit wary of Woojin's stare.

Two hyper looking males appeared next to Woojin, and it was obvious one of them was a werewolf. The other one looked very human.

"That's Jeongin," Chan pointed to the werewolf, "and that's Minho, a witch."

"Hey!" they greeted, practically bouncing on their heels due to their barely concealed excitement.

"Hi," Changbin smiled, though he was sure the smile came out as more of a grimace.

"He wants you guys' help to know  why his eyes are so red," Chan explained, specifically to Woojin and Seungmin.

They all gathered up at a table, everyone's eyes focused on each other except for Minho, who was too busy performing spells on Jeongin.

"When did it start?" Woojin asked Changbin.

"This morning," Changbin replied. He blinked, feeling vulnerable under the watchful eyes of Seungmin and Woojin.

"And you get tired easily now, right?" Seungmin asked, "Especially in the afternoon?"

Changbin was surprised by the taller's accurate question, even though he should've expected it. "Yes."

"Do you get frequent headaches? Get irritated easily? Or unexplainably angry, even though you aren't usually like that?"

Changbin nodded. "Yeah, but I don't get frequent headaches."

Woojin leaned in and placed a palm on the left side of Changbin's neck, startling the shorter male. The elf looked at Seungmin. "His heartbeat's slower than usual too."

"Shit," Minho suddenly cursed, his eyes wide. "You're dying."

Jeongin smacked Minho's arm, and the witch hissed in response. "Shut up."

"Minho's...not that wrong," Woojin whispered. He must've seen the dismayed look on Changbin's face, so he quickly added, "Just like how your body negatively reacts to the cold, making your skin red, that's how it's reacting right now. Your cells are kind of...slowly disintegrating due to too much stress and emotions, and your body doesn't like that at all. It's trying to fix everything, and now you're getting unwanted side effects, like your eyes right now."

"O-Okay." Changbin didn't know how to react right now.

"So he can't do anything?" Chan asked after a moment of silence.

"Not that I know of," Seungmin answered this time. "The situation's worse since he's half demon, half human. His chances of dying are way higher now. But...we'll try to find a solution."

Changbin wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

_______

 

He was _dying_.

 

He _was_ dying.

 

_Dying_.

 

Dy... _ing_.

 

Different thoughts and opinions raged throughout Changbin's head as he walked home. He still couldn't process anything correctly. He felt numb, as if the situation hadn't sunk in yet.

 

_Changbin was going to die._

 

Autumn leaves flew and twirled around the half demon due to the strong wind that blew around him, and he hugged himself. At this point, he felt like he was just made up of bones and flesh, and cells that were _apparently disintegrating_. 

 

He entered his house in silence, glad that his mother wasn't around. 

 

How was she going to react when she found out about this?

 

He went up the stairs to his room, and immediately found himself walking over to his window. 

 

Felix was inside his room, slaving over different books on his drawer. He was oblivious to Changbin's presence, and the half demon liked it like that.

 

Changbin took out a piece of paper and a black marker, and wrote out his message.

 

_I'm sorry for always being absent, physically and mentally. Know that your presence brings me pure happiness._

 

_Thank you._

 

Folding the paper into a plane, Changbin flew it straight into Felix's window, getting the Australian's attention right away.

 

Changbin didn't hide away from Felix this time, and smiled when the taller's eyes met his, even if his smile was hidden from view. "Hi."

 

"Hey," Felix grinned, before taking the paper and opening it up. His smile widened after a few seconds, and he grabbed a pen and wrote something down on the paper too. Like Changbin had done, he folded the paper into an airplane and sent it flying into Changbin's open window.

 

Changbin's slow heartbeat quickened when he read Felix's message.

 

_You make me happy too. Really happy. I can't even fully describe the extent of it._

 

_Please keep on existing, for me._


	11. hide ; x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late night conversations are the best when Changbin can hear the low hum of Felix's voice.

It was around nighttime that the harsh reality began to dawn on Changbin. He was once again awake, seated on his bed in a fetus-like position. His bedspread was discarded--probably somewhere that Changbin didn't care too much about now--and his arms were hugging his knees.

They were shaking--why were they shaking?

Changbin tried to convince himself that maybe Seungmin and Woojin were wrong, that maybe they mistook his symptoms for something else. But everyone knew that elves were always correct in their predictions. They had the uncanny ability to read people, and Changbin hated that fact so much at that moment.

Changbin would break the news to his mother soon, but then what? She'd probably take him to the hospital, but the hospital didn't specialize in supernatural diseases. And he'd rather not go there for treatment, considering what people thought about him and his kind already.

_He was going to die._

Changbin knew that now, alright. But the question was, when would he die?

Demon hybrids usually lived until their mid-thirties, or if they were lucky, late forties. It was probably because demons weren't meant to reproduce with creatures other than demons, and if that was the real reason, then why did Changbin's mother get with his father?

She'd told Changbin time and time again that she fell in love with his father, but he just couldn't believe it. How could someone fall in love with another person without taking into consideration their physical imperfections? It seemed almost impossible to Changbin, and sometimes, he'd wished his mother never had him.

_He was going to die_.

Woojin had also said something about how he'd start getting unwanted side effects. His eyes were already the start of it. They weren't as red as they were in the morning and afternoon, but they still shone.

Changbin was basically experiencing something that was similar to cancer, but it wasn't, since otherworldly creatures didn't have cancer. They didn't really have health problems in general, but here he was.

His eyes fell on the phone next to his school bag, and before knowing it he grabbed the device and dialled Felix's number.

Changbin knew it was dumb, and he couldn't just call Felix like that. It was late at night, and that was around the time everyone was asleep. The chances of Felix being awake were slim to none.

_"Hey, it's Felix. If you hear this it probably means I'm sleeping or eating, either one. You can always try again, or leave a message!"_

He sighed. The call had went to voicemail, but what did he expect? Just like voicemail Felix had instructed, he dialled the number again.

Voicemail. Again.

He couldn't even _hear_ Felix's phone in his room, even if he wanted to. His ability to hear even the slightest of sounds had always been something he actually liked about himself, but now he couldn't even use it.

_Okay, one last time_. Changbin tried calling Felix again (since he didn't want to leave a message), and his heart jumped when the call went through.

"Uh...hello?" Felix's voice took over the other line, and Changbin felt like he was smiling. The Australian's voice sounded gruff and deeper than usual. He also sounded tired, which he should've been, considering the fact that Changbin had woke him up from his sleep. "Changbin?"

"...Hey. I'm sorry for waking you up. Really sorry," Changbin apologized.

"Nah, it's okay," Felix replied. Changbin could hear some shuffling on the other line, which meant that Felix was probably sitting up. "What's up? Are you okay?"

_I'm not_. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Felix asked, his tone holding a teasing lilt to it. "I want you to be really fine."

"I am," Changbin nodded, before realizing that Felix couldn't see him.

"That's good," Felix chuckled, "so what do you wanna talk about?"

Changbin blinked, his mind blank. Now that Felix had said it, what were they going to talk about? The half demon felt incredibly stupid for not thinking over what he'd actually called Felix for. "Uh..."

Felix laughed, and Changbin's heart did that little jump again. "So you called me...but you don't have any reason why?"

"Mhm," Changbin replied without thinking. He quickly added, "Okay...the truth is, I'm not feeling too great right now, and I can't sleep. Can you...talk or sing for me? You don't _have_ to, if you don't want to."

"I don't mind," Felix uttered, surprising Changbin.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean--I don't mind singing for you. I'm not the best singer, but I know I won't make your ears bleed."

Changbin couldn't stop the laugh that escaped from his lips after Felix's words. "Okay."

"Okay," Felix chuckled, before clearing his throat. " _Stay by my side, stay with me. Don’t let go of my hand you hold. If you take one step away, I can just take one step closer_."

The song in itself was slow, and kind of sad, but it made Changbin feel calm and okay. True, Felix wasn't the best singer in the world, but his voice held emotions, and it was soothing to hear. Changbin loved his voice.

" _Thousands of times a day, my thoughts come back to you. All the cruel words you said to me. That icy look, those cold expressions. You were such a pretty person. You were such a pretty person. Please don’t do this to me. You know me well_."

Changbin's heart hurt at the lyrics, but he couldn't tell Felix to stop them. No, not when Changbin was too transfixed with the song and meaning. He liked it more than he expected, and during that moment, he felt the closest to Felix than he'd ever felt these past few weeks.

" _Just hug me, please hug me. Just run to me without a word. With a lonely and anxious heart, like this I wait for you. I love you, I love you, I’ll shout out from this long silence. My foolish and weak heart_ ," Felix finished, and then silence dawned upon the two males. "Changbin...are you awake?"

"I am..." Changbin whispered. His heartbeat was ringing in both his ears, like an alarm that had no intention of stopping. His heart was being like this due to the song that Felix sang, Changbin convinced himself, and not because of the fact that _Felix_ sang it.

"How was the song?"

"It was...sad."

Felix laughed. "I'm sorry for that. I really like emotional songs. This one in particular."

"Why?"

"...Because it relates."

"To who?" Changbin asked, his eyes drifting over to his window. He wondered if Felix would be at his own window if he decided to walk over to it.

"To me...and you."

Changbin's eyes widened. "What?"

"Like, I want you to hug me, because, you know, you're feeling sad and I want to comfort you."

That didn't stop Changbin's heart from beating excessively though. And because of the current situation he was in, that made him really worried. "Comfort me?"

Felix paused, before saying, "Come to your window."

Changbin stood up, before grabbing his mask and beanie, and started walking until he got to the opening of his window. Felix was already there, his phone in his hand. Felix's face brightened up as soon as he saw Changbin, and he looked adorable, despite his slightly disheveled hair and clothes.

Felix proceeded to place his phone next to his right ear. "Can you come downstairs?"

"...Okay," Changbin replied, and Felix shut his curtains and disappeared. Changbin placed his phone on his bed, and grabbed one hoodie he spotted on his closet. He pulled it over his head and arms, and trudged over to the door, careful to make as least noise as possible.

Stepping out and closing his door, he saw Felix in front of the porch, his hands inside the pockets of his sweatpants.

"Felix?"

Felix turned around and smiled. He quickly stepped closer to Changbin and softly nudged the shorter's arm with his elbow. "You actually came."

"Of course I would," Changbin answered.

Felix was full-on grinning now. "Your eyes are still glowing. I like it."

Changbin's smile faltered slightly, and he tried to find a way to change the topic. "Uhm, why did you want us to meet now?"

"Well," Felix's eyes drifted everywhere, except at Changbin, "I just wanted to do something."

"Do what?"

Felix closed the last remaining space between them, his arms engulfing Changbin in a tight hug. "I wanted to hug you." His hand inched upwards to gently caress Changbin's arms. "Hope you don't mind."

Changbin shook his head. He was highly confused, yet he didn't want Felix to stop what he was doing. Everything felt nice, and why would Changbin not want something that made him feel nice?

But still, seeds of doubt were planted in Changbin's mind, until they grew and became anchored within him. Before he could stop himself, he muttered, "Why are you doing this?"

Felix was still holding Changbin's arms. "Doing what? Hugging you?"

"Y-Yeah, and the other things that you do too. I just want to know why you're being like this, because it highly confuses me at times."

Felix pulled back, and lowered his head until he and Changbin looked each other in the eye. He placed his palms on Changbin's shoulders and sighed. "I...uh, is this the time when I say that I like you?"

"I like you too," Changbin muttered, but Felix shook his head.

"Not 'like', as in a friend kind of way. I like you more than that. _Way_ more than that."

Changbin's mind started racing, but Felix wasn't done.

"I kind of confessed to you using that song earlier, but you didn't get it, so, I'm telling you now."

"But--"

"Don't try to invalidate my feelings using the fact that I haven't seen all of your face. That didn't stop me from falling in like with you, and that still wouldn't stop me now. I just..." Felix cupped Changbin's face with his hand, before using the other to part his hair a little to the side. Looking Changbin straight in the eyes, he asked, "Can I?"

Butterflies multiplied within Changbin's stomach when he shakily nodded. He didn't even know what he was doing, and didn't know what was happening. His heart was beating too fast, too erratically, and his hands shook as Felix gently pried off Changbin's mask off his face. He almost wanted to stop Felix, but he was too stunned to move.

He stared straight at Felix, intently observing his expression when he finally took off the mask. Changbin felt like like curling into himself when the taller's eyes ran over the contours of his face without a word.

He should've never let Felix take off that mask from his face. He should've said no to avoid this situation entirely. He should've--

"Shit, you're cute."

Changbin definitely did _not_ expect Felix to say that. He turned his face away, feelimg strange with the way his lips freely moved. "I'm not."

"Wait--" Felix grabbed one of his hands, "don't go. You don't need to look away from me, and you don't look like a monster in my eyes. You just look adorable."

"I'm not adorable," Changbin denied, looking up at Felix. His cheeks became red, and it wasn't due to the cold this time.

"You are. And--I've been meaning to do this for as long as I can remember," Felix whispered, holding Changbin's head in place. He stepped closer, and closed in the space between his and Changbin's lips.

Changbin was shocked beyond compare, because here he was, kissing the boy he'd started having feelings for, thinking that they'd never get reciprocated. Felix was _actually_ kissing him, his hands desperately tugging at Changbin's hoodie to make them as close as possible.

Everything looked like a dream, but it felt too _real_ to Changbin for him to consider it so. He could feel Felix's warm breath ghosting over the side of his lips, could feel Felix's hands running over the fabric of his hoodie in beautiful, unique patterns. Felix was close enough for Changbin to count all his freckles, and they each reminded him of chocolate chip cookies, and he liked chocolate chip cookies.

Felix was also grinning now, trailing his fingers down Changbin's arms until they arrived at the shorter's palms. "Can I...kiss you again?"

"I..." Felix was staring so intently at him, and his hands were roaming over Changbin's waist now. Changbn felt great, but also extremely overwhelmed. "I don't want my canines to bother you..."

Felix laughed, before shaking his head. "They didn't bother me. They just make you look like a sexy vampire."

Changbin's ears felt like they were on flames. "V-Vampires are different from demons."

"I know," Felix chuckled, before focusing his gaze on Changbin's hair. "Can I see your horns?"

Changbin almost shook his head, but then he realized he didn't have to hide anything anymore. Felix had already seen his face, and he didn't act as horribly as Changbin had expected. "O...kay."

He pulled off his beanie, and Felix's eyes immediately landed on his horns. Changbin felt really self-concious, and he wanted to run away.

"They l-look weird, right? That's why I usually hide them."

"Sure, I've never seen another demon apart from you, but I have no problems with your little horns. I find them endearing in a way," Felix stated.

Felix's reaction to his bare face and horns had exceeded Changbin's expectations. The Australian had never said anything bad about them, and he'd still kissed Changbin like it was nothing even though his canines must've been in the way. Changbin had never received any kind of positive response from anyone apart from his mother when he showed his face before, but now that Felix had done so, it made the demon hybrid strangely emotional.

He abruptly brought Felix closer to him in a hug, startling the taller male. "Thank you, Felix, for still being with me even if you saw my face."

Tears trailed down the eyes of Changbin, and he was pretty sure he was wetting Felix's shirt by now. But the blond didn't look bothered by it.

"Why wouldn't I want to be with you? I want to stay with you for a long time."

"But...what if I don't last long? I...I can just disappear in the blink of an eye."

Felix rested his head on Changbin's shoulder. "I'd rather that not happening. I wouldn't want you to die or anything. Why did you ask?"

Silence.

"...I was just curious."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Felix sang is hug me by v and jhope of bts


	12. hide ; xi

Changbin couldn't wake up early the next day. He slept until the afternoon, and when his mother entered his room to ask if he was feeling well, he made up some lie that he was just tired, even if he knew it was another case entirely.

His room became suffocating after a while though, due to him not hearing anything other then his very slow heartbeat. That wouldn't have worried him before, but after hearing what Seungmin and Woojin said, he became highly cautious.

"Changbin, do you wanna head out? Felix is outside," Changbin's mother asked when she entered Changbin's room again.

"...Really?" Changbin asked, his voice slurred. That never happened before. Luckily, his mother didn't take any notice of it.

"Yeah. You can go out with him instead of staying cooped up in your room all day."

Changbin didn't feel like going anywhere, but he listened to his mother. He figured staying in his room all day would do him no good, and it would just make him feel more hopeless about the situation he was in.

Plus, he wanted to spend time with Felix, especially because of what happened between them early that morning.

After they'd kissed, Changbin had gotten too nervous and told Felix that he had to head back inside because he was freezing. That was kind of true, but the main reason was that Changbin had gotten nervous. He'd never kissed anyone before, and he didn't even know what to do with himself due to the fact that someone as attractive as Felix had taken his first kiss. He'd wanted some space from Felix, since he still couldn't believe what had happened.

Changbin relunctantly dragged himself off his bed, and made his way to the bathroom making sure that he was hidden from view. Even though he'd basically revealed himself to Felix earlier today, he still didn't feel comfortable showing his bare face to the Australian. And he didn't look good when he just woke up.

He quickly showered, still unable to shake off that feeling of tiredness, and put on a black long sleeved shirt and a random pair of jeans, hoping that he looked presentable enough.

Just like Changbin's mother had said, Felix was in the living room, chatting with her about something the half demon couldn't make out, to his frustration.

"Hey, Felix. Mom." Changbin greeted once he made himself known. Felix turned to watch him, and Changbin quickly looked away. He felt so freaking exposed without his mask on, like he was almost _naked_. That was obviously an exaggeration, but Changbin couldn't help it.

Changbin's mother smiled at his appearance, her eyes shining with blatant happiness in them. It wasn't often that Changbin was out and about without his mask and beanie on, especially not when other people were around.

"Uh...do you want us to go now?" Changbin quietly asked Felix.

"Wait, what about lunch? I can quickly whip something up before I head to that parent teacher meeting I have to go to," Changbin's mother suggested, already on her feet.

Changbin shook his head. "It's okay, mom. I don't want you to be late. Felix and I can just get something on our way."

"...Okay," she nodded. "Okay you guys, have fun. I'll lock the door for you so you won't have to."

Changbin and Felix obeyed her, and soon enough, they were outside the house. Changbin took out his mask from his pocket and was about to put it on his face when Felix stopped him.

Changbin stared at Felix with wide eyes. "What?"

"I want to stare at you a little longer."

_Badum_. Changbin's heart skipped a beat. "Aish, you're really corny."

Felix smiled, staring directly at Changbin. The shorter promptly looked away again.

"I'm sorry. We can take some time to walk to the bus stop, you know? So you won't be in a hurry to put on that mask," Felix muttered. His arm found its way around Changbin's shoulder, and he gave it a delicate squeeze. "And it doesn't matter if people are around, people in this neighbourhood mind their own business anyway."

"What about you, Mr. I don't want to show my freckles?" Changbin questioned, raising an eyebrow at Felix.

Felix's cheeks glowed a soft pink, before he placed his fingers on them and rubbed them until his freckles showed. "Okay, I'm not hiding them anymore. What about you?"

"I'm not ready," Changbin mumbled, "Maybe one day."

Felix nodded, and didn't say anything when Changbin put on his mask as they neared the bus stop. He, however, interlocked his hand with Changbin's own when they entered a bus and sat so close to Changbin that the half demon felt like he was suffocating.

"You're too close to me," Changbin said, staring out of the window to avoid staring any passengers in the eye. His eyes were still a very noticeable red, even though their brightness had dimmed considerably.

"Oh, sorry." Felix gave the shorter some space, but now his hand was on Changbin's thigh instead. "Let's go to that pizza place I had been talking about earlier. We can get some pizza and find somewhere else private to eat if you don't want to show your face."

Changbin nodded, despite feeling a bit wary about going to that pizza place. Jisung was the one who introduced Felix to that place, afterall. Felix had made sure not to tell Changbin what had taken place inside the school after his disappearance, and the half demon had been grateful for that. He didn't want to meet Jisung or Jaeha or any of their friends anytime soon. "Okay."

As soon as they got off the bus, Felix proceeded to hold Changbin's hand again. "I'm doing this because you look like you're getting cold, and because I want to."

"...Okay," Changbin nodded, feeling both nervous and excited. He was still tired, yes, but he was finding it hard to refrain from smiling now.

"It's nearing October. Would we have more creatures about from humans around here?"

"Because of Halloween?" Changbin asked. Felix nodded. "I guess? It's the Vampires that show themselves more than anything, and most of them are evil, so."

Felix looked at Changbin with curiosity. "Evil?"

"Yeah. Lots of them are bad, so it's a good thing that a lot of them don't live around here," Changbin replied. People often confused Vampires and Demons because of how similar they looked, but the fact was that Vampires were more eager to get revenge whenever someone wronged them, so they hated humans a lot.

Felix outwardly shuddered, which made Changbin laugh. "God, I hope I never run into any of them."

Both males exchanged no more words for the rest of their walk, and that was okay, because they got to hold hands the majority of the journey.

"We're here!" Felix grinned when they came across a rather wide fast food place with a giant, realistic looking picture of a slice of pizza was plastered on the top of the building.

Changbin immediately felt nervous, because not only was the interior of the place as big as it looked on the outside, but it had air conditioning and many people were inside. He almost wanted to run away when Felix gently tugged on his hand, and the Australian quickly noticed this.

"Hey, you okay?"

Changbin nodded. "Let's just...get our food and leave."

Felix nodded immediately. "Okay. Uhm," his eyes scanned the area, "you can take a seat at that corner near the window. The AC tends to hit here a lot, and I can tell you're starting to feel cold."

"Okay," Changbin smiled. He quickly sat down where Felix had recommended, and pulled on his long sleeved shirt, trying to generate some warmth. He even tried to try temperature warping, but the end result was too weak to work. The fact was that he wasn't as strong in it as he had been before.

He stared at his hands, and took notice of how rigid they were becoming. He prayed Felix would hurry up and they'd leave, before his hands started turning red.

His phone distracted him from his hands.

**Chan and friends!**

 

**Minho:** guys, i found something

 

**Seungmin:** what is it?  
**Seungmin:** something that has to do with helping Changbin?

 

**Minho:** uh...no  
**Minho:** i found another spell book to add to my collection!  
**Minho:** it was in the library, but the librarian didn't want it anymore :)

 

**Woojin:** are you serious?

 

**Chan:** have you and Seungmin found anything yet?

 

**Woojin:** we live in the same house you could've just come to us

 

**Seungmin:** i know right

 

**Chan:** i want changbin to see this  
**Chan:** changbin, are you there?

 

**Changbin:** yeah

 

**Seungmin:** woojin and i are still looking for a cure, changbin **Seungmin:** along with minho

 

**Minho:** yeah, but i havent came across a spell that can reverse the kind of disease you have  
**Minho:** what you have needs something more powerful than that, and the witches that wield that kind of power are dark magic users, so its better we don't get involved with them.

  
**Woojin:** and the fact with power and magic is that for you to get something, you have to give something away, to restore balance and all that  
**Woojin:** and that's the hard part  
**Woojin:** because the people that want something usually don't want to give something important to them away

**Chan:** we'll ask other people we know, and maybe they'll have the answer

**Changbin:** thank you guys

 

**Chan:** you're welcome changbin :)  
**Chan:** we don't want anything bad to happen to you

 

**Jeongin:** guys what did i miss?

 

"Changbin?" 

 

Changbin's eyes moved away from his phone and landed on Felix, who was in front of him. He was carrying bags that held their food, and he handed Changbin some coffee.

 

"Figured you wouldn't like cold drinks, so I got you coffee instead," Felix explained.

 

"Thank you," Changbin smiled, placing his phone back inside his pocket. "Let's go?"

 

Felix nodded, before they started to walk outside. "We can head to the park to eat. There aren't a lot of people are there anyway."

 

Changbin slowly nodded, internally going over the conversation he'd just had with Chan and his roommates. 

 

_The fact with power and magic is that for you to get something, you have to give something away_. 

 

Changbin's eyes fell on Felix, who was busy sipping on his soft drink. 

 

_And that's the hard part, because the people that want something, usually don't want to give something important to them away_.

 

"Is anything on your mind?" Felix asked, staring at Changbin with his pretty eyes.

 

Changbin bit his lip, before shaking his head. "It's nothing."

 

"I'm pretty sure it isn't 'nothing'," Felix chuckled, "but I won't force you to tell me if you aren't ready to."

 

Changbin nodded, unable to look Felix directly in the eye. "Okay."

 

_I don't want to lose you_. 

 

_______

 

Changbin shouldn't have done this.

 

He stood in front of his school with Felix, fighting the tempting urge to turn around and go back home. But, he already missed too many days of school, and he had to face everyone sooner or later. 

 

"Fuck," Changbin mumbled.

 

Felix stared at Changbin with worried eyes. "Do you want to go back home?"

 

The half demon quickly shook his head. He started to walk inside the compound, trying to ignore everyone and everything. People were definitely staring at him now, but he didn't look their way.

 

Classes were going to begin soon, and it made Changbin relieved. At least he'd be able to distract himself with school related work, and possibly Felix too.

 

When he and Felix entered their first class, he spotted Jisung and Jaeha with their followers huddled at a corner. Jisung immediately looked his way, but Changbin ignored him and took his usual seat at the back, Felix following after him.

 

"Felix!" Jaeha called out, "You don't want to hang out with us?"

 

"No thanks, I'd rather hang out with Changbin instead," Felix simply replied, and Changbin became alarmed.

 

"Why'd you say that?" Changbin whispered, and Felix frowned.

 

"Because I want to. I'm fine just being friends with you, but they, especially Jaeha, don't seem to get that."

 

Changbin could feel their stares burning holes into his head, and he hoped Felix wouldn't get badly affected because of this. 

 

The class began and ended without any incidents happening, apart from the frequent glares Jaeha sent his way. 

 

However, Changbin's next class was Physics, which meant that he was going to face Jisung and Hyunjin once again. He really didn't want to enter that class, considering what happened the last time he was there. 

 

Ignoring all his feelings of anxiety, Changbin entered the class and quickly sat in the back, happy that everyone else seemed to be ignoring him. 

 

He became alert as soon as Jisung entered, with Hyunjin trailing closely behind him, and he made sure he wasn't looking their way when they sat a few seats away from him, wicked smirks gracing their faces.

 

"Welcome back, Changbin," Jisung smiled, glancing at the half demon. Changbin didn't answer. "Hey, I'm talking to you."

 

"Ignore him. He can't speak anyway," Hyunjin replied, raising his hands in defense when Jisung glared at him.

 

Changbin couldn't wait for Physics to be over. 

 

Surprisingly, Hyunjin and Jisung didn't bother him for the rest of the class and the other ones they shared. Hyunjin was too busy talking to his girlfriend and Jisung just looked impatient.

 

As soon as lunch came, Jisung lept on his feet and grabbed his beg, leaving the classroom before the teacher dismissed everyone. 

 

After Changbin left the class, Felix met up with him and they started walking together.

 

"Back of the school?" Felix asked. 

 

Changbin nodded, before handing Felix his bag. "I have to head to the bathroom first. I'll see you later."

 

Felix gave him a thumbs up, before going on his way.

 

Changbin quickly headed in the direction of the boy's bathroom. He just wanted to wash his face to try and get rid of the tiredness he was experiencing, and he hoped no one would be around.

 

Nearing the area, which was located at a corner, he walked up to the door and was about to open it when he realized that it was already opened halfway.

 

Changbin heard a sound within the bathroom, one that sounded like sniffing and shuffling of feet. He was about to walk away when his eyes caught sight of someone drinking something that looked suspiciously like... _blood_. 

 

Changbin's eyes widened when he realized that the person was Jisung seated inside one of the stalls. Jisung ran a hand through his messy black hair as he wiped his lips with his arm, looking done with life.

 

Changbin stood still with shock. As far as he had known, Jisung was human, and he looked human too. Everyone in school thought he was human, because that was what Jisung always said, but here he was, drinking from what appeared to be a blood bag.

  
Jisung suddenly stopped, his eyes briefly glowing red. He quickly looked in Changbin's direction, but the half demon's reflexes allowed him to quickly hide away from view.

Jisung abruptly stood up, his footsteps gliding over the shiny floor. "Who's there? Show yourself."

Changbin started running down the corner until he was at the main school area, and he hoped that Jisung hadn't seen him. 


	13. hide ; xii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin and Felix take the next step in their relationship.

Changbin couldn't wait for the school to be over. After what he'd seen in that bathroom, and fearing that Jisung had caught him, he just wanted to get out of the school.

Jisung looked totally normal in all the classes they had after lunch, and Changbin noted how he seemed to have an healthier glow now, compared to how he looked that morning, which was slightly pale. Jisung also didn't treat him any different from how he usually did (which consisted of heated glares and distasteful expressions).

His silence bothered Changbin more than he'd like.

"You're always looking Jisung's way," Felix spoke, bringing Changbin back to the present. They were in math class, the last class for the day. "Did he do something bad to you?"

"No," Changbin shook his head, glancing at Jisung once again.

The Vampire's arm was around the shoulders of a girl with shoulder length hair. They were talking to each other about something, and when she turned around to talk to her friend, Jisung smiled, his fangs appearing for a very brief moment. Changbin caught sight of it.

The half demon slightly shuddered. He knew all about how ruthless and cold Vampires could be, especially to the people that got on their bad side. That explained why Jisung acted the way he did. The only surprising thing was how he managed to hide who he really was for so long without anyone noticing. Changbin himself had never suspected Jisung of being anything other than human, until today.

"Okay," Felix said, intruding in on Changbin's thoughts, "after class ends I have dance practice, so you can come. After, let's head to your house. We can complete the Chemistry assignment there."

"Okay," Changbin agreed, his mind too occupied with different thoughts to say anything else.

Felix smiled, before leaning over his desk and shielding Jisung from Changbin's view. "Stop watching Jisung," he whispered with a slight frown on his face.

"I wasn't watching Jisung."

"You _were_. Do...do you like to see him or something?" Felix's frown increased as he said those words, and his lips formed a small pout. "If so, that's just wrong, because I'm basically your boyfriend."

"I--I don't like to see Jisung. I don't like him like that," Changbin quickly replied. "And...who said we were boyfriends?"

"It's because I haven't asked you yet, right? Well, do you want to be my boyfriend?" Felix whisper-asked, because he didn't want the teacher to look his way.

Changbin tried to look everywhere but at Felix, but the taller wouldn't let him. He made sure Changbin couldn't look away, and it frustrated the half demon and made him flustered at the same time.

"Be my boyfriend."

"Shh, someone might hear you. We're in a classroom," Changbin muttered, focusing his eyes on the book before him.

"...Okay."

Felix didn't say anything else until the class ended, and after he'd waited for the class to be empty, he and Changbin headed outside.

Looking at Changbin, he asked again, "Be my boyfriend?"

"How long does your dance practice take?"

"Stop avoiding the question," Felix chuckled, "but, since you asked, it's like an hour and thirty minutes."

"...Okay."

Felix inched closer to Changbin, before grinning widely at him. "Be my boyfriend? Please?"

Changbin looked up at Felix and his cheeks started burning because of the minimal distance between his and Felix's faces. "I...I don't know."

Felix's smile vanished. "...What do you mean you don't know? Don't you like me? I thought you did--"

"Felix!" Hyunjin shouted from where he was at one of the pillars. "Dance practice's about to start soon. You don't wanna be late. You know how Kai gets already."

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec!" Felix replied, before turning around to face Changbin again. "Changbin?"

"You...you should go. You wouldn't want to be late," Changbin said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was afraid to look Felix in the eye, because he wouldn't be able to handle whatever expression was on Felix's face right now.

"So...you don't want to be my boyfriend."

Changbin didn't answer, even if he wanted to.

"But--I thought you liked me. You _like_ me, right? Are you afraid of my feelings not being real? I've proved that I really like you, but I can prove it to you some more if you'd like. Are you afraid of me being hurt? I've assured you time and time again that I won't. And...I won't leave you, Changbin." He held Changbin's right hand, despite the fact that they were in the open.

_You won't, because I'm the one that's going to leave you instead,_ Changbin thought.

"I don't want to leave you," Changbin said, slowly pulling his hand out of Felix's.

Confusion swirled within Felix's brown eyes. "But you aren't going anywhere, right?"

"You should go to practice. You're probably already late by now."

Felix sensed Changbin sudden change in topics, but he went along with it. "Okay. You aren't coming with me?"

"I'll wait in the library until you're done."

"Aw," Felix frowned, "I really wanted you to see how cool I look while dancing. Maybe another time then?"

Changbin smiled, making sure that Felix could see how happy his eyes looked. "Yeah. See you."

Felix started walking, but not before he casted a brief look Changbin's way.

Changbin walked away in the opposite direction, trying to ignore the gradual guilt that was building up inside him. He didn't want to hurt Felix. That wasn't his intention at all. He just didn't want them to become official because he didn't know how long he was going to last.

Few students were inside the library, and the librarian gave Changbin a curt nod before he found a seat. He figured he'd go over the notes that Felix gave him from the lessons that he'd missed, to keep himself busy.

But his revision didn't last long though, because he started wondering how Felix looked when he danced. He'd never seen the Australian dance before, and since he was in a dance club, that meant he had to be good, right?

Felix had wanted Changbin to come see him, and he would've, but he was too nervous to, considering the number of students that were going to be gathered there.

The sound of someone snapping their books shut brought Changbin back to reality. He looked behind him, and saw Jisung seated in front of some books, folding his arms behind his head.

"What?" Jisung spoke up when he and Changbin made eye contact.

Changbin shook his head, before facing the front once more.

What was Jisung doing here? Because he'd never seen Jisung seated there when he'd first entered the library. That meant that Jisung must have really silent footsteps, or that Changbin's hearing wasn't as good as it was before. Both reasons scared Changbin.

Jisung scoffed, and before Changbin knew it, Jisung's face appeared in his view. Jisung had sat in front of Changbin.

"Why are you here?" Changbin asked before he thought too much about it.

"This is a library. Can't I be here?" Jisung countered. "And I can seat anywhere I want, too. Don't let my presence stop you from whatever... _studying_ you may be doing."

Changbin stared at Jisung, trying to read his face, but all he got was nothing. Jisung was great at giving poker faces.

He listened to Jisung's advice and tried to go over his notes, but that didn't seem to work with Jisung studying his every move like a microscope.

Changbin stopped, before staring at the Vampire again. "...Stop watching me."

"But I have every right to, since you didn't seem to have a problem with watching me in that bathroom."

Changbin's eyes widened, because he realized he'd just been caught. "It wasn't me--"

"Don't try to deny it. I saw you. You thought you were fast, but I'm faster."

Eventually, Changbin nodded, knowing it was going to be of no use if he denied further. "Okay...it was me."

"Good," Jisung smiled, though it looked more like a smirk, "there was no point in denying it anyway. If you were someone else, I would've killed you already." His facial expression suddenly hardened, and he regarded Changbin with a glare. "You better not tell anyone."

Changbin felt like looking away when Jisung's eyes glowed red for less than a second. "I won't. Who would I tell, anyway?"

"You and Felix are... _close_ , and I realized I can't do anything about that, since he really seems to like you. People like Jaeha are the ones who can't seem to get the hint. She's probably feeling up on your _boyfriend_ right now at that dance practice." Jisung chuckled, though it sounded more sinister than anything. "We are similar, Changbin, so I don't want people associating me with the likes of you. Keep your mouth shut, so you won't give me a reason to hurt you or anyone close to you."

With that, Jisung rose up from his seat, and walked out of the library.

Changbin watched him go, suddenly wanting to leave that library as quickly as possible.

As he dropped his books inside his bag, he went over the words Jisung had told him.

_We are similar, Changbin._

No, they were not. Jisung was a bad person, and Changbin wasn't. Demons only hurt people when they wanted to hurt them in the first place, and only when they absolutely needed to. Vampires were different. They hurt people even if there was no reason to, especially humans.

_And Felix was human_.

Changbin quickly walked out of the library, and headed to where the dance room was located. As usual, many people stood outside of the open doors, intently staring at the dancers inside.

Some people regarded Changbin with curiosity and sneers plastered on their faces at his appearance. He didn't pay attention to them though. He'd learned to block out their stares a long time ago.

Getting to the front of the door wasn't as hard as it looked, and it helped that people parted ways for him since they didn't want to touch him. He stared at the dancers inside the room, looking for Felix.

Changbin spotted him after a few seconds, putting on a black baseball cap to shield some of his features. A blush creeped up Changbin's face, because that cap was one of his many caps, and he had no idea when Felix had taken it.

Just as Jisung had said, Jaeha was apparently a dancer too, as she was already practicing some choreography with a couple of other girls, basking in the cheers her fans sent her.

"We'll be doing couple dances today," the instructor, a tall, lanky man with short hair informed the dancers, and the cheers from the outsiders increased. He glared at them to shut up, but no one paid him any mind.

"I want to show our own first," Jaeha said, drawing all eyes to her. She walked up to Felix. "Felix?"

Changbin narrowed his eyes in confusion. Since when were Felix and Jaeha dance partners? Sure, he'd never asked Felix anything about his dance club, but Felix had never said anything either.

"Sure," Felix replied her, looking a bit distracted.

"Okay," tall lanky man clapped his hands, "show us what you've worked on so far."

The music suddenly started after Felix and Jaeha had taken their positions. The crowd was silent, watching with bated breaths.

Felix was a graceful, yet strong dancer, Changbin realized. He moved insync with the beat, and exuded so much confidence whilst maintaining a respectable distance away from Jaeha, unless they had to touch. He also looked really attractive when he danced, and Changbin had to wonder if that was the same Felix who made a mini talk show using hotdogs as the representatives.

Jaeha was a good dancer too, no matter how much Changbin didn't want to admit it. She matched Felix well, and it became obvious after a few seconds that she wanted to be as close to Felix as possible. It wasn't even funny anymore. She casted sultry looks his way, and she smiled unnecessarily whenever he touched her.

It was at the end of the dance that Jaeha wrapped her arms around Felix's neck, and his hands on her waist. She smiled, glancing Changbin's way before pecking Felix's lips, to everyone's surprise.

The crowd became crazy, but Changbin didn't even hear them. Everything turned into a distant buzz, and he found himself walking backwards before turning around to quickly walk away.

He saw how everyone cheered them on, saw how _perfect_ they looked next to each other. Changbin didn't _belong_ there. He didn't--

"Changbin!" Felix exclaimed, and Changbin started to walk faster. But Felix caught up to him in no time. He gripped Changbin's wrist to stop him from moving, and stepped in front of him to block his way. "Changbin."

"I...I have to go."

"What you saw in there wasn't the plan. It wasn't part of the dance at all. She was the one who kissed me out of the blue like that," Felix hurriedly explained, "so please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Changbin replied.

"I don't like Jaeha like that, Changbin. I don't even like her as a friend. I'm...I'm sorry you had to see that."

Changbin didn't answer, so Felix tried to change the topic.

"...Thanks for coming to see me, though."

Changbin nodded. "You're a really good dancer."

"Thank you," Felix smiled. He looked so good, and Changbin couldn't believe that someone like him could be interested in someone like Changbin. It seemed too good to be true, and it didn't seem real. "Changbin--"

"Don't you still have dance practice?"

Felix shook his head. "No. It's going to end in a few minutes anyway. I'll go change, and then we'll head home, okay?"

"Okay," Changbin replied. He watched as Felix headed to the bathrooms, and sat on the stairs, waiting for him.

Felix didn't take that long to change, and in a couple of minutes, they were walking away from the school.

Changbin knew Felix took notice of how silent he was, but he didn't know what to say to break that silence.

"Changbin, are you still bothered about what happened?"

Changbin looked up at Felix, seeing that Felix was watching him too. "I--I don't know."

"...You don't know? Why don't you know? Aren't you angry?"

"I'm not, and I'm not happy about it either. ...I just don't like it," Changbin answered, looking away from Felix.

His pulse quickened when he felt a hand intertwining with his. He stared at Felix, and Felix grinned, tightening his grip. It made warmth spread throughout Changbin's chest, just like it always did whenever Felix was around.

And Felix was always around.

"I like you a lot, Changbin, and I know that won't change anytime soon. You make me happy, and I'd like to think I make you feel that way too."

"You do. You make me happy," Changbin answered.

"So...be my boyfriend? I mean, you like me, and I like you too. A lot. Don't you think we should be in a relationship?"

"I--okay."

Felix beamed, spreading his arms apart to engulf Changbin in a tight hug. "So happy you said yes."

Changbin smiled, patting Felix on his head. "I'm happy I said yes too." And he was. _Truly_.

He ignored the part of his mind that told him he was wrong for agreeing to this, especially because of the complicated situation he was in. He only hoped that all this would end happily.


	14. hide ; xiii

 

 

 

** Everyone is stupid except for Jeongin **

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** okay  
**Minho:** ignoring that chat name  
**Minho:** i may have found something in that new spell book i have

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** what is it  
**Chan:** and is everyone here?

 

 

 

 

**Seungmin:** yes

 

 

 

 

**Woojin:** yep

 

 

 

 

**Jeongin:** yess

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** changbin, you there?  
**Chan:** i know it may be late for you, so i hope you're awake

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** uh yeah, i am

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** great!  
**Chan:** so minho, what were you saying?

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** okay  
**Minho:** so there's this spell called fata contra  
**Minho:** which stands for fate reverse, like, to reverse your fate  
**Minho:** and it has the words to chant and all that

 

 

 

 

**Seungmin:** that's great!  
**Seungmin:** but why did you wait until now to tell us?

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** because who knows what you'll do with that information  
**Minho:** you'd probably try that spell out on your own  
**Minho:** which is,, *very* dangerous, by the way

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** so that's it?

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** yeah

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** so you'd just have to chant that, and i'd change my fate?

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** uh,, yeah  
**Minho:** but there's one teeny tiny little thing that we have to do to complete the process

 

 

 

 

**Jeongin:** oh god no

 

 

 

 

**Woojin:** what is it?

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** we have to go to faey and get inside their tribal mountain to complete everything

 

 

 

 

**Woojin:** noooo

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** uh, what is 'faey'??

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** the land of the cousins of elves, fairies  
**Chan:** and they don't like visitors

 

 

 

 

**Seungmin:** yep

 

 

 

 

**Jeongin:** that's right

 

 

 

 

**Woojin:** but dont worry changbin  
**Woojin:** we'll get there, somehow

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** yeah  
**Chan:** it's pretty late around here, but we always stay up late  
**Chan:** why are you up, changbin?

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** i'm with someone right now  
**Changbin:** i'll talk to you guys later

 

 

 

 

**Jeongin:** ooh

 

 

"Who are you texting?" Felix breathed out, trying to make the least sound as possible.

 

 

 

Changbin put the phone back in his pocket, before shrugging. "Just some other creatures that I met recently."

 

 

 

Felix raised his eyebrows in curiosity as his arm found its way around Changbin's torso, and the half demon instinctively leaned into Felix's chest. "Really? Who? Can I meet them too? And why are you texting them this late anyway?"

 

 

 

"Woah, slow down," Changbin joked, fixing his position so he could stare at the dark sky better. The bright moon was a crescent, not a full one, which explained why Jeongin was still around to text. "You _can_ meet them, soon. And, I'm just texting them...because I want to."

 

 

 

Felix narrowed his eyes. "You took too long to answer the last sentence." He pushed his face closer to Changbin's own and blinked a couple of times. "Am I missing something? Is my boyfriend hiding something from me? I am _apalled_."

 

 

 

Changbin chuckled, and pushed Felix away. He must've pushed Felix too hard though, because the human almost fell over the steps, but Changbin held him in place just in time. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

 

 

 

Felix just started laughing, before pulling Changbin in for one of his familiar tight hugs. "I wasn't hurt, Changbin. And you're so strong. I love it."

 

 

 

"I'm glad you aren't," Changbin smiled, "but your obsession with my strength is really weird."

 

 

 

"You know what else I'm obsessed with?" Felix asked as soon as he pulled away.

 

 

 

"What? My smile? You said that lots of times anyway."

 

 

 

"Well, it _is_ your smile but, I was going to talk about that temperature control thing that you do," Felix replied, holding Changbin's hands. "Do you mind showing me what else you can do with it?"

 

 

 

Felix looked so hopeful and so curious, that Changbin didn't want to disappoint him. He also couldn't tell the Australian that he was weaker than before, so that meant his powers wouldn't be as noticeable as they'd been earlier. He didn't even plan on telling Felix what was wrong with him, and hoped he'd never have to until after he'd gotten cured.

 

 

 

So, he gently gripped onto Felix's wrists, and hoped that what he was planning to do would work. Slowly but surely, faint tendrils of a fiery yellow ran up and encompassed Felix's arms, and the Australian made a brief sound of surprise at that.

 

 

 

"What are those..." Felix mumbled, watching as the tendrils appeared and disappeared.

 

 

 

"...That's warmth and heat energy spreading through you. I just made them more noticeable, I guess," Changbin replied. He wanted to let go, because he was kind of starting to feel tired, but he liked the look of pure wonder on Felix's face as he watched his arms, and he wanted to keep on impressing the human.

 

 

 

"They look so pretty," Felix grinned, looking at Changbin.

 

 

 

Changbin nodded, before pulling his hands away. The tendrils immediately disappeared, and the halo of golden light that surrounded the two boys vanished. "I'm...I'm glad you liked it."

 

 

 

"Yeah--" Felix quickly noticed how Changbin withdrew to himself. "Hey, what's wrong?"

 

 

 

"I'm just feeling tired," Changbin replied, and it was true. He felt immensely tired over something that usually never made him feel a thing. He felt like a weight was pulling him down, and he couldn't seat up straight. He couldn't even count his heartbeat, because it was too slow.

 

 

 

"Do you want to go back inside?" Felix asked, genuine worry lacing his tone.

 

 

 

Changbin nodded, before slowly standing on his feet.

 

 

 

Felix immediately copied his actions and moved closer to the shorter male. "I'm sorry I asked you to show me what else you could do. That's why you're probably like this..."

 

 

 

"No, it's okay," Changbin smiled. He shrugged to seem nonchalant about the whole matter. "I'm just feeling sleepy."

  
Felix nodded, and they both walked to the door.

"You don't need to follow me to the door, you know," Changbin laughed, taking off one of his gloves. His eyes fell on his exposed left hand, and his heart raced.

_Black_.

These black veins ran all across Changbin's hand and wrist, and the mere sight of them alone was terrifying.

"Yeah, but I want to," Felix was saying, stepping closer to where Changbin was located until his chest touched the shorter's back.

Changbin quickly shoved his left hand into his pocket, and turned around to face Felix. "I'll, uh, see you later today?"

Felix smiled, his eyes sparkling. "Yeah, you will."

Changbin smiled back, and he started becoming confused when Felix was still standing in his spot, unmoving. "Uh...aren't you heading back to your house?"

Felix stepped closer. "...I want a kiss first."

"Uhm," Changbin whispered, "okay." He leaned in and captured Felix's lips in a short kiss.

Felix's cheeks turned a bright red. "Thanks. I...guess I'll get going now. Bye Changbin," he spoke whilst waving as he walked towards his own house.

Changbin waved back, before silently unlocking the door to his house and entering.

Nights like these were common now for Changbin, and he snuck out to meet Felix so much that he got good at it. Even though Changbin's mother liked Felix, she wouldn't have welcomed Changbin meeting him at the dead of the night, considering how his body reacted to the cold.

Changbin hurried inside his room, turned on the lights, and quickly pulled off his gloves. He stared at both of his hands, and felt like hyperventilating.

Those black veins were still present, and they scared Changbin so much. He'd never seen something like that before on him, and he'd never read anything about that either.

With shaky hands, he turned on his phone.

 

** Everyone is stupid except for Jeongin **

 

 

**Changbin:** are you guys still awake?

 

 

**Chan:** yeah  
**Chan:** is something wrong?

 

 

**Changbin:** my hands  
**Changbin:** have black veins on them  
**Changbin:** and they're fucking horrifying  
**Changbin:** what does that mean

 

 

**Minho:** wait really?

 

 

**Woojin:** when did they appear?

 

 

**Changbin:** a few minutes ago

 

 

**Seungmin:** did they just show up randomly, or did you do something before they showed up

 

 

**Changbin:** i practiced temperature warping  
**Changbin:** but i used just a little bit though  
**Changbin:** i felt really tired after i did it  
**Changbin:** and then my hands became like this  
**Changbin:** and shit they're starting to hurt

  
**Chan:** that means you've used too much energy  
**Chan:** even if you didn't use a lot  
**Chan:** that only happens to malnourished and... sick demons  
**Chan:** just  
**Chan:** don't do anything strenuous right now. drink some water, eat some food, but if you dont want to do that, then just sleep  
**Chan:** i think it'd go soon

 

**Changbin:** really?

 

 

**Woojin:** chan is right. sleep  
**Woojin:** and dont ever use your powers, for now  
**Woojin:** we'll figure out what we can do about the entire matter, and how we'll get to faey

 

 

**Seungmin:** hopefully we'll be able to get inside their tribal mountain

 

 

**Minho:** hopefully

 

 

**Chan:** go to sleep, changbin. you're still in the chat.

 

 

**Changbin:** okay

 

 

**Jeongin:** guys, what did i miss?

Changbin shut off his phone, staring at his hands again. He averted his eyes after a few seconds, and flicked off the lights, which surrounded the whole room in darkness.

 

He came to the window, and looked through it to see if Felix was still awake.

 

He wasn't. 

  
Changbin fell on top of his bed, and submerged himself under his blankets. They were warm, and it didn't take long for him to feel protected by them.

The half demon stared at his wall, internally going over the events of his day. He remembered Woojin talking about them having to go to a place called 'Faey', and he also remembered how his heart lept inside his chest whenever Felix hugged him close.

Something icy trickled down Changbin's face at that moment, and he lifted up his hand to touch it, realizing there and then that he was crying.

All of a sudden, the warmth that his blankets offered him evaporated, and all that was left was Changbin trying to fight the bitter cold that gripped at his body.

Coldness didn't go well together with pain, but that didn't stop Changbin from experiencing both of them at once. He winced because of the pain his hands gave him, and his tears made the situation worse.

He couldn't even tell his mother, because he didn't want her to get worried and scared.

He was alone now, and he had to find a way to deal with that.

_______

  
Luckily for Changbin, the black veins in his hands disappeared before he headed to school, so that meant he could avoid answering any questions he didn't want.

Felix waited for him as usual, and after Changbin put on his mask and beanie, they left the house.

"Are you still tired?" Felix asked Changbin after a few moments.

Changbin simply nodded. He stared at the ground, intending on hiding that eyebags that were prevalent on his face. He didn't get much sleep last night, so he didn't even know how he woke up so early. He didn't feel like going to school today.

"...Do you want to go back home?"

"No--no, it's fine. I'm okay, I swear," Changbin replied, trying to convince Felix of something he wasn't so sure of himself. He just didn't want the Australian to stare at him with those worried eyes. He didn't want Felix to feel stressed over him at all.

"Okay," Felix nodded, buying Changbin's lie for now.

_______

 

Changbin could barely concentrate for the first half of the school day. He couldn't even write his notes properly, and Felix had taken the responsibilty to do so instead, despite Changbin insisting that he didn't need to do so.

 

Things got worse during lunch, when Changbin couldn't even finish his food and had to head to the classrooms earlier than usual because he was too tired.

 

When the physics teacher paired him up with Jisung (of all people) for a short class assignment, he was so out of it that he didn't hear more than half of what Jisung said to him.

 

"What the fuck is wrong with you, demon?" Jisung spat, narrowing his eyes in anger. When Changbin didn't respond, he roughly shoved his shoulder. "Why aren't you answering me?"

 

"I'm sorry," Changbin whispered, even though he didn't know what he was apologizing soon. He couldn't wait for the class to be over.

 

"We have an assignment to complete. People are starting to watch," Jisung replied, though his tone now was less harsh than before. "Now fix yourself up and help me."

 

Changbin bit his lip, and forced himself to watch Jisung. "I...okay."

 

Jisung looked slight taken aback when he witnessed Changbin's face. "Why the hell are your eyes black? What is wrong with you?"

 

Changbin looked away, feeling sort of woozy. He tried to focus on the text book before him, but it multiplied into two's, and then four's. 

 

He clutched his head, feeling so dizzy and weak. 

 

"If you need the nurse, then say it. Don't freaking die in here..."

 

Jisung's voice faded out until it morphed with the other sounds surrounding Changbin until he couldn't decipher the younger's voice anymore.

 

He felt himself descending until he collided with something, and then darkness covered his vision.


	15. hide ; xiv

 

" _...angbin? Changbin..."_

 

 

Changbin quickly drew in a breath as his eyes snapped open. The indescernible voices that surrounded him started becoming clearer to hear and make out, and the half demon tried to sit up, but couldn't.

 

 

"Oh my god, Changbin, you're awake," Felix exclaimed with happiness, but Changbin wasn't paying attention to him.

 

 

He was staring at his hands, glad that there were no black veins visible on them, but his breathing was rigid to that point that his chest hurt whenever he took a breath.

 

 

"Changbin?" Felix was holding his right hand now, running his fingers over it and making his touch as soothing as possible. "You're alright now, okay?"

 

 

Changbin nodded, even if he knew he wasn't. He could tell he was in the nurse's office, and the woman was walking around and writing something down on that clipboard of her's.

 

 

His eyes slowly scanned the office, and widened slightly when they fell on person he least expected to be there.

 

 

"What's Jisung doing here?" Changbin whispered, not wanted the black haired vampire to hear him.

 

 

"Oh," Felix glanced Jisung's way before answering Changbin, "he was the one who brought you here after you...fainted. You were out for almost an hour, but you'll be free to go home soon. Miss Oh already called your mother."

 

 

Changbin hid his surprise at that information, his mood worsening when he realized his mother was going to be involved. If he had known that all this was going to happen, he wouldn't have come to school today. "...Okay."

 

 

He tried sitting up once more, and this time, he succeeded. He noticed how Felix studied his every move, and wished that the Australian didn't make him feel like he was some injured animal. He was fine right now, and he didn't need anyone's help.

 

 

"...You don't have anymore classes to go to?" Changbin asked Felix.

 

 

Before Felix could answer however, Jisung spoke up.

 

 

"School finished a couple minutes ago."

 

 

"So why are you still here?" Changbin found himself asking. Sure, he knew Jisung was the one who brought him to the nurse's office, but why was he still around?

 

 

"He had to watch over you since I had some errands to run," the nurse replied in Jisung's place. She shot Changbin a small smile, one that didn't hold the fake or pitying undertone that others usually had when they smiled at him. It was new, so Changbin didn't know how to react to it. "Felix here decided to join in a few minutes after."

 

 

A rosy blush spread throughout Felix's face. "I was worried about Changbin after I heard what had happened."

 

 

Jisung's scoff could be heard at the back, and he just rolled his eyes after Felix glared at him. "Whatever."

 

 

"Boys, if you want to fight, don't do it inside here please," the nurse said, before her full attention became focused on Changbin. "You're feeling better now, right?"

 

 

Changbin nodded in reply, and forced his feet to touch the floor. He wanted to get out of the office as soon as possible, before any unwanted side effects started making themselves known.

 

 

Before he'd fainted, he remembered Jisung talking about how black his eyes were. He really hoped his eyes weren't like that again. With the sympathetic and affectionate way Felix was watching him then, he knew that wasn't the case. Felix would never look at Changbin in that way if he got exposed to how monstrous Changbin looked when it was obvious how sick he was. Felix wouldn't like what he saw then.

 

 

He would _never_ like what he saw then.

 

 

_______

 

 

"Miss Oh said that you fainted because you weren't resting or eating enough," Changbin's mother said as she drove through the busy roads. She casted a short look Changbin's way before facing her frong again. "Are you skipping your meals?"

 

 

"I'm not," Changbin replied, his low voice forming a huge contrast with the noise that filled the town. "I'm not skipping any meals."

 

 

"Then are you sleeping later than you should? I've noticed the eyebags you're developing, Changbin. And, you look thinner than you used to before. Is there something that you aren't telling me?" Changbin's mother asked. It was clear as day how worried she was because of Changbin, and Changbin didn't want her to feel that way. He didn't want her to get stressed over something that he was going to find a way to fix anyway.

 

 

So, he lied by shaking his head. "I'm not hiding anything, mom. I'm fine. I'll...I'll eat more and sleep more. I'll be okay."

 

 

But at that moment, Changbin didn't _feel_ okay. He felt like a ticking time bomb, and the only difference was that he didn't know when his timer was going to stop. That fact made him anxious and even scared, because he didn't know what could happen to him, and didn't know what would happen to his mother and Felix if he suddenly wasn't alive anymore.

 

 

He could even die in a few seconds.

 

 

Changbin rolled down the window, suddenly feeling claustrophobic.

 

 

His mother didn't question his weird behaviour, but she didn't look like she'd gotten over their discussion either.

 

 

Changbin jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped in front of his house, and ran to the place, unlocking it and entering before his mother could.

 

 

When she finally entered, Changbin told her he'd be in his room and ran up the stairs before she could disagree with his choice.

 

 

He flung himself on his bed, and looked at his hands. The veins looked as normal as they did when the day started, but Changbin still couldn't bring himself to be relieved about that.

  
He could die, but he didn't want to die. He wanted to continue being alive, and for a long time too. He'd never cared about his short life span before, but now he found something, some _one_ , who he now had a reason to live for. He wanted to spend as much time with Felix as possible.

Knowing that dinner was still in a few hours, Changbin took a shower and spent the time doing nothing.

He couldn't practice or work on his powers, because Chan and Woojin warned him not to, and Felix wasn't around either.

Afternoons were always Changbin's least favourite time of day, and even if he felt tired, he couldn't sleep.

 

**Changbin:** felix, where are you?

 

 

Felix had seen him off when he left with his mother, and told Changbin that he'd be home soon. So, where was he?

 

 

As always, Felix answered after a few seconds.

 

 

**Felix:** on the bus.  
**Felix:** mom and dad made me get some stuff from the supermarket to eat cause they're going on a date, so that's why i'm not home yet :)  
**Felix:** do you miss me?

 

 

**Changbin:** i don't miss you

 

 

**Felix:** lies ;)  
**Felix:** are you feeling better now?

 

 

**Changbin:** i am

 

 

**Felix:** i'm glad  
**Felix:** i got so scared when i heard that you fainted and wouldn't wake up  
**Felix:** i thought something bad had happened to you

 

 

**Changbin:** don't worry about me, Felix  
**Changbin:** i told you, i'm fine

 

 

**Felix:** that's good to know  
**Felix:** i'd never want anything bad to happen to you

 

 

Changbin nervously bit his lower lip before he sent his next message.

 

 

**Changbin:** what would you do?

 

 

**Felix:** what?

 

 

**Changbin:** what would you do, you know  
**Changbin:** if...something bad happened to me  
**Changbin:** would you cry? or would you hate me for not telling you sooner  
**Changbin:** i don't want you to hate me  
**Changbin:** please dont hate me

 

 

**Felix:** i'd never hate you changbin  
**Felix:** why are you asking me this?  
**Felix:** did something bad happen to you?

 

 

**Changbin:** no  
**Changbin:** let's hang out at your house today  
**Changbin:** you said your parents are going on a date, right?

 

 

**Felix:** okay, sure :)

Changbin hoped Felix wouldn't ask him anymore questions.

 

_______

  
"I feel like a kid again," Felix whispered, even if there was no one apart from him and Changbin around here. His hands gripped on the chains attached to the seat of his swing, and let himself slightly oscillate in the air. " _Whee_..."

Changbin watched the excited human next to him, and couldn't hide the smile that grew on his face. Why was Felix so adorable?

"Why aren't you swinging too, Changbin?" Felix asked. He promptly stopped moving, and glanced at the half demon next to him. "Swings are fun."

"I will, soon," Changbin promised. He placed his gloved hands on the chains that held his own swing together, and attached his sneaker clad feet on the rocky ground in order to stop him from moving. Sure, swings were fun, as Felix said, but Changbin found more joy in watching Felix enjoy himself than swinging himself back and forth. Plus, it would be very easy for him to lose his footing, since he was shorter than Felix and he didn't want to fall.

Felix nodded with a smile, before swinging again.

When Changbin and Felix had discovered to sets of swings at the back of Felix's house after they'd eaten some macaroni and cheese, the Australian had enthusiastically suggested that they use them for a bit to relax. Changbin had agreed, because he couldn't say no to his boyfriend, and here they were.

Felix was beautiful, and now was one of the many moments when Changbin realized that. The Australian often seemed too perfect to be real, and the fact that he chose to be with Changbin despite what other people had said never failed to warm Changbin's heart. Felix had looked past his outward appearance, and liked him for _who_ he was, not what he was.

Felix liked _him_ , and no one else.

This moment seemed like a dream now, but if it truly wasn't, then this would be the only reality Changbin would never get tired of.

As the moon revealed itself from where it was hidden, casting a faint light around a grinning Felix like a makeshift halo, Changbin knew that he liked Felix more than he'd thought. Maybe he even loved Felix.

He probably did.

 

_______

  
"You won't faint in here, right?"

Changbin looked up from where he was stationed in the library, and frowned when he saw Jisung in front of him, with Hyunjin by his side.

Hyunjin was snickering at Jisung's snide comment, and Changbin focused his attention on his book once more instead of answering them.

Jisung sighed, before facing his friend. "Hyunjin, tell Jaeha and the others that I'll meet them soon. In front of JB's."

"...Sure," Hyunjin replied. He sounded confused, but he listened to Jisung's orders, as always.

As soon as he left, Jisung took the seat in front of Changbin, and started tapping on the table, which distracted Changbin.

"Changbin, we need to talk."

Changbin looked up, confused and wary about Jisung's intentions. "...About what?"

"Are you fine?"

Changbin was pretty sure his surprise was evident, even if he had his mask on. "...What?"

"You heard me the first time."

"Why do you care anyway?"

"I don't. I need to make sure nothing's wrong with you before you get scared and blow my cover," Jisung replied, leaning back into his chair.

"I'm not going to tell anyone anything, so please leave me alone," Changbin begged. He didn't know why Jisung was suddenly chatting with him. He guessed that it was one of Jisung's many tricks to try and find Changbin's weak point in order to reveal it to the entire school. That wouldn't be his first time doing so.

Jisung sighed once again, and dug into his bag, pulling out something. It was a thin, white envelope, and he quickly slid it over the table and towards Changbin. "Take it."

"What is that?"

"An invitation. Halloween's coming soon, and I'm hosting a huge blood bash party at my house. And don't say no, I'm trying to be nice here." Jisung gestured to the envelope. " _Take it._ "

Without thinking, Changbin took it and put it inside his bag. He snapped out of his trance when he realized what Jisung had done. "You mind controlled me."

Jisung shrugged. "I didn't expect it to work that long on you anyway. And don't throw it away. This is a once in a life time opportunity. Don't waste the chance to get what you want." The Vampire stood up, and grabbed his backpack. "See you, demon."

Changbin wordlessly watched him leave, and thought about the invitation in his bag. What was that for?

_Don't waste the chance to get what you want._

What chance?


	16. hide ; xv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix trusts Changbin.

Chan had told Changbin that he'd like for him and the rest of the guys to have a meeting where he lived, so here Changbin was, putting on his usual attire that consisted of hoodies and jeans.

It was Saturday morning, around nine o'clock, because Changbin wanted to be at Chan's apartment as early as possible. The earlier he went, the more information he'd gather about that place that he needed to go to.

Changbin's mother was already out for work, so the house was devoid of noise. Usually, Changbin didn't mind, and actually liked silence, but now it felt sort of eerie, like something bad was going to happen.

After eating the quick breakfast that he whipped up for himself, he put on his beanie and mask and he stepped out of the house, locking the door afterwards.

Changbin prepared himself to start walking down the street, but slowed down his steps when Felix headed out of his own house at that second.

"Hey Changbin," Felix flashed his familiar bright smile, "where are you going?"

"I'm just going out," Changbin replied, trying to keep his response vague. The butterflies in his stomach spun around as soon as Felix moved closer to him. "Are you, uh, going out too?"

Felix nodded, before hooking his arm around Changbin's own. "Yeah. I got bored so I decided to just go out and see the town, I guess. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come along, but I guess I don't need to now. It's like we're going on a date, but it's not a date. Don't know if that makes any sense."

Changbin shrugged to hide the fact that Felix's words made him nervous. He needed to see Chan and the rest of the guys, and he had to do that without Felix getting involved or knowing what was happening with him.

"You look really adorable in that peach coloured hoodie of yours. It looks almost pink. I didn't know that pink would look good on you, until now," Felix stated as they walked down the usual road taht directed them to the bus stop.

Changbin pushed his mask up his face some more to hide how pink his face was getting at Felix's compliment. "I don't look good in pink."

Felix shot the half demon a sincere smile. "You do."

Changbin huffed, bringing out bouts of laughter from Felix as they entered a bus. Changbin ignored the Australian and looked for a seat at the back, looking out the window when Felix sat next to him.

"Where do you want us to go first?" Felix asked, clasping his and Changbin's hands together.

The half demon stared at their hands worriedly, considering that there were other people entering the bus, but Felix didn't seem to mind that. The problem wasn't that they were both males (as the people around here didn't really care about who you chose to date), but the fact that it was already well known that Changbin was a demon hybrid, and he didn't want anyone looking down on Felix because of that.

Changbin stared out of the window again. He didn't know how to say his next words without sounding mean or selfish. "The thing is...I have to go somewhere. Alone. For some time. We... we can always hang out later, you know?"

Felix blinked, but nodded. "Okay. But...where are you going, though?" It was hard to keep the disappointment Felix felt out of his tone, so Changbin heard it loud and clear.

Changbin slowly shook his head. "I...I can't tell. I'm sorry."

_So you won't even tell me where you're going, either_ , Felix wanted to say, but the words disintegrated before they could make their way up his throat. "...Okay. What time are you going to be done? We can always spend time together afterwards."

"...I'll call you when I'm done," Changbin replied. "Definitely."

Felix's face brightened, but only slightly. He busied himself with playing with Changbin's hand, and that distracted them both for a while.

_______

 

"I'm guessing that we'll part ways now?" Felix asked, shoving both his hands into his pockets.

 

Changbin looked at Felix and nodded. Guilt and an array of second thoughts raged through his mind at what he was doing, but he convinced himself that what he was doing was the right thing. It would be better for everyone if Felix didn't know about what was happening, as Changbin wouldn't be able to handle seeing a sad or heartbroken Felix. 

 

"See you later, Bin," Felix mumbled, giving Changbin's hand a slight squeeze before letting go and heading the opposite direction.

 

Changbin felt his lips curl into a fond smile, because Felix had called him by a nickname that he absolutely despised but didn't mind once being called it. His eyes started feeling cold, and he wiped at them before any unnecessary tears would form.

 

_______

 

Finding that area that Chan had called Viribus wasn't that hard for Changbin, but he felt like he'd lost his way a couple of times. He even asked Chan for directions at one point, but soon enough, he was at his destination.

 

Creatures that weren't human cornered Changbin everywhere he looked, but he didn't spot any Vampires, and that was good, considering how bad they could get. 

 

Changbin felt like he should fit in around here, but he couldn't. Because, while he was a demon, he was also a human, too. That fact unknowingly drew an invisible border between him and the otherworldy creatures, and he felt like he wouldn't be able to cross it.

 

He had to walk for a while to get to Chan's apartment, and he heaved a sigh of relief when he came across the building. 

 

As soon as he got to the door, he knocked on it and waited for someone to open the door.

 

Seungmin ended up doing so. "Hey, Changbin," he smiled, "come in."

 

"Thanks," Changbin answered. Before he could come in though, Seungmin looked past him with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "...What?"

 

"Hello."

 

Changbin's heart felt like it had dropped down to his stomach. He quickly turned around, eyes widening in blatant surprise when Felix's face greeted his vision. "What--what are you doing here?"

 

Felix smiled, before whispering, "I followed you. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

 

One part of Changbin felt grateful that Felix had gone through great lengths just to make sure that nothing bad had happened to him, but another part, the much bigger part, was both angry and scared, because Felix hadn't listened to him and had chosen to follow him instead.

 

"You need to go, please," Changbin whispered back.

 

Before Felix could reply, another person stepped up to the door. 

 

"Changbin, I'm glad you're here." Woojin. "And who's this?"

 

"I'm Felix," Felix introduced with a grin. "Changbin's boyfriend."

 

It was clear that Woojin looked confused at what Felix was doing here, but the expression quickly dissolved and he opened the door wider to let them come in.

  
"You guys look cute together," Seungmin mused. "You're a human, right? That's... _surprising_."

"Don't be rude," Woojin scolded the elf, before closing the door. "Anyone can like whoever they want."

The previously silent apartment grew noisy because Jeongin was running everywhere with Chan hot on his tail, and Minho suddenly popped up out of nowhere, holding an heavy looking spell book with an expression of accomplishment written on his face.

Changbin was sure everyone could feel his anxiety if they looked at him hard enough, and after everyone had taken a seat after Felix introduced himself to everyone, the Australian softly poked his arm and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing," Changbin shook his head. Everything was not going according to plan. He couldn't tell Felix to leave, and everyone else had seemed to have warmed up to the Australian already. He didn't want Felix to know about his secret. He didn't want that at all.

"I'm sorry I came," Felix muttered so only Changbin would hear him. "I didn't know it'd affect you this much. I was just worried, you know? And...I, uh, felt kinda jealous, because I thought you found other people that you found more fun and interesting than I am."

Changbin was puzzled that Felix thought that way, because that wasn't the case at all. "It's okay. Just--don't say anything until we leave this place."

"Sure," Felix agreed, his facial expression neutral.

"About the process of going to Faey," Chan spoke, catching Changbin's attention, "I think we can be able to go there. I've been talking to a fairy that lives around here, and he said he can lead us to one of the portals that can take us to the place."

"That's good," Seungmin smiled, looking happy for Changbin. "Woojin and Minho have been working on that fata contra spell, especially Minho."

"Yeah," Minho agreed. "I have to make sure I say the words right, because the spell can be very dangerous if chanted incorrectly. Worst case scenario, Changbin'd die on the scene."

Jeongin smacked Minho's arm and told him to shut up, while Felix obviously looked surprised.

Changbin avoided looking at Felix as he said his next words. "Best case scenario?"

"...You don't die," Woojin replied, though he sounded a bit hesitant. He must've sensed that Felix didn't know about this arrangement before, and now he looked cautious. "You...get healed and your life span will increase."

Changbin couldn't shake off Felix's stare. "...Where's the portal?"

Chan chose to speak this time after noticing the tense atmosphere that had taken over Felix and Changbin. "Jungkook said he couldn't tell me, but he'd show it to us. It opens two days after Halloween, and Seungmin and Woojin will adjust the earth's time so we'd only be gone for one day. We'd have to hurry though, because the portal would close up anytime after twenty four hours."

"That's good," Changbin smiled, though it was slightly forced. Sure, he was glad that he was one step closer to getting healed, but he didn't like the way Felix was staring at him. He was nervous to face Felix head on, so he could only stare at the table in front of him and hope that the meeting would soon be over.

_______

 

Felix was strangely quiet the second he and Changbin left Chan's apartment, and didn't utter a word when they took the bus home too.

 

It troubled Changbin to no end, considering the fact that he _knew_ why Felix was being like that, but he didn't know how to approach the subject. 

 

It when they were finally heading to their homes that Changbin decided to end the silence. "Felix, please talk to me." He held Felix's hand, trying to obtain his attention.

 

Changbin's chest stiffened when Felix removed his grip.

 

"You hid the fact that you're dying away from me, and didn't want me to know. That's why you didn't want me to follow you to where you were going... right?" Felix's voice sounded soft against the whirring of the autumn wind. 

  
Changbin looked down, and nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you worried."

"And you figured not letting me know was the best thing," Felix stated, but it sounded more like a question.

"I didn't, and I still don't want to make you feel sad," Changbin muttered, his heart pounding irregularly against his ribcage. "I...I just wanted you to feel happy around me and not have to worry about me dying anytime soon."

Felix stepped closer to Changbin. "What exactly _is_ wrong, with you? You...you can tell me, you know? I can handle it."

Changbin drew in a shaky breath before replying. "Demons hybrids...have short life spans. I...I won't live long, a-and my body's slowly shutting down. I-I can get cured though, but I'm...not sure if it'll work one hundred percent." He met Felix's eyes. "I just need you to trust me."

Something in Felix's expression broke, and Changbin didn't know how to fix it.

"I--Okay," Felix breathed out, trying to hide the obvious emotion behind his words. He glanced sideways at watched the cars that passed them on the road which held passengers that were oblivious to his inner turmoil. "...I trust you."

Changbin stretched out his hand to hold Felix's own, and this time, the Australian let him do it. "I really didn't want you to follow me, but now that you did, I can't do anything about it. Just don't be sad, Felix. I'll be fine, I'll be okay."

_You're trying so hard to hide the fact that you're crying, which was what I wanted to avoid all this time_ , Changbin thought as he gently swung his and Felix's arms back and forth. He really wanted to cheer the Australian up. "I'll be fine, really."

Felix nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, let's head to your house and watch some movies, or do anything you want, really," Changbin suggested, trying to fill up the dreary atmosphere. "It'll be fun, trust me."

Felix smiled, though it was very small and almost inconsequential. He wasn't even looking at Changbin, and his cheeks and nose were blotched with red, and it wasn't due to blushing.

"Felix, please stop being like this. I don't like it at all. Can't you just...forget about all that's happening? I told you I'll be fine."

"I _can't_ ," Felix spoke up, harshly biting on his lower lip. "I can't do it. I can't just _forget_ everything like that, a-and I don't want to. I freaking care about you so much that I--I can't _bear_ the thought of losing you." A tear rolled down Felix's cheek, and he quickly wiped it off with his sleeve. "I don't want to lose you..."

Changbin inched closer to Felix and wrapped his arms around his form. "And you won't, okay? I promise."

_Don't make promises you can't keep_.

_______

 

"Are you going to Jisung's party?" Changbin asked, staring at Felix who was next to him, facing the ceiling. 

 

"...I dunno," Felix whispered. The bright blue lava lamps lit up the otherwise dark room and casted a light on Felix that made him look ghostly and sort of unreal. "I guess he invited you too?"

 

"...Yeah." Changbin sat up and peered over Felix, distracting the taller male. "I'm sorry if you're mad at me...for everything that happened. I was scared and I just wanted to make you keep smiling..."

 

Felix softly sniffed, before interlacing his and Changbin's hands together. "I don't blame you at all. I probably would've done the same if I was in your position. And it's impossible for me to stay mad at you."

 

Changbin nodded, lying down once more. This time though, he was closer to Felix and his head was now on Felix's shoulder. The half demon could almost hear Felix's heartbeat, due to how loud it sounded. It felt like a stormy sea, or an angry wave. Felix's mind too was obviously racing. He was with Changbin, but he also wasn't.

 

This was the closest Changbin had been to Felix physically, yet he still felt like they were miles and miles apart.


	17. hide ; xvi

The sun was shining at its brightest today, October twenty seventh, beating down on Changbin's back and illuminating the reddish and brownish leaves surrounding him. The breeze blowing on them was consistent and just right. It wasn't too much, and wasn't too little either.

Changbin was silent as he ascended up the rocky steps, along with his mother by his side, hating the way his cap did nothing to conceal the ray of sun targeted on him.

He couldn't do anything about it though, and soon enough, trying to block out the sunlight wasn't his priority anymore.

As Changbin neared his destination, his grip on the bouquet of orchids tightened, and for a brief moment, his throat closed up, making it hard to swallow. Then, the feeling became replaced with numbness.

As he placed the bouquet on the tombstone that belonged to his father, he stepped back to allow his mother to have her private moment with him, and busied himself with looking at the sky, cursing the way his chest constricted, and the way his heart felt like it was encased in an iron fist.

It'd been five years since Changbin's father died, yet those _memories_ were still fresh in Changbin's mind, as if everything had taken place yesterday.

The images of his father falling in the living room, the sound of his mother calling for an ambulance, the anxiety he experienced as the paramedics put his unresponsive father on the stretcher, and lastly, the shock he felt when he realized that his father wasn't going to come back, replayed in Changbin's mind over and over again like some messed up slideshow, and no matter how hard Changbin tried to stop it, those memories kept on gushing in from where they'd been locked up for so long.

Changbin felt like a bad son for trying to block out memories of his father after the first year and a half of his death. But then he realized that people dealt with grief in different ways, and him trying to distance himself from anything having to do with his father was his way of trying to cope with everything. He had done it to avoid spontaneously breaking into tears and finding it hard to wake up in the morning, as Changbin's mother had frequently done.

Changbin stared at the tombstone again, and saw how sorrowful and forlorn his mother looked. That painful constricting feeling came back, and it only intensified at the realization that if Changbin ended up dying, then his mother would have no one anymore.

That possibilty didn't sit well with Changbin at all, and that only made him all the more determined.

He _couldn't_ die. He _didn't_ want to die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_______

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changbin sighed as he sat on his bed. His phone had been bombarded with text messages, and he hadn't been able to answer them because of where he went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before he answered them, he stared at his door, wondering what his mother was doing right now. She'd been uncharacteristically silent when they came back home from the cemetery, heading to her room soon after. Changbin hadn't said anything, mostly because he didn't want to upset her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Focusing back at his phone, he started looking through the messages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** Minho is annoying **

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** goodmorning, changbin  
**Chan:** are you awake?  
_sent 10:15 am_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Seungmin:** you've been taking those pills that woojin and minho worked on, right?  
**Seungmin:** are you seeing any differences?  
_sent 10:23 am_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Woojin:** it's supposed to keep you okay until the day we're supposed to go to faey  
**Woojin:** i'm sure you knew this already  
_sent 10:27 am_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** he knows  
**Minho:** and i'm not annoying  
_sent 10:31 am_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Chan:** where is jeongin anyway  
_sent 10:31 am_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Minho:** that brat is out hunting animals or whatever  
_sent 10:32 am_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** hey guys  
**Changbin:** i'm sorry for not replying earlier  
**Changbin:** i was out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Seungmin:** oh, it's okay :)  
**Seungmin:** you're taking the pills, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** yeah. i am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changbin remembered the small bottle of pills that Minho had given him three days ago after visiting them. The pills were supernatural pills that Minho and Woojin had conjured up with their spells, and were supposed to keep Changbin from experiencing any other episodes of fainting and lessen his chances of falling ill before November the second came.

  
He looked around his room for the bottle, not finding it on the drawer where he usually placed it. He figured it must've been in his bag or something.

He checked the other messages he got, his heart skipping a beat when his eyes landed on Felix's contact name.

**Felix:** changbin, are you there?  
**Felix:** are you awake  
_sent 9:01 am_

**Felix:** i guess not :(  
**Felix:** your window's still closed, and your mother's not home either  
_sent 9:13 am_

**Felix:** are you...with them?  
**Felix:** you know, chan and the others?  
**Felix:** i would've followed you if you wanted me to  
_sent 9:21 am_

**Felix:** i want to call you, but i dont want to disrupt anything  
**Felix:** i really miss you  
**Felix:** we havent gone on a date in some time, and i'd really like to make it up to you  
_sent 9:54 am_

**Felix:** i'm sorry for being so absent lately  
_sent 10:15 am_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** hey felix :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** hi

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** are you back at home now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** yeah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** were you with chan and them?  
**Felix:** it's okay if you were,, i was just asking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** i wasnt  
**Changbin:** i was out with my mother

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** oh  
**Felix:** did you guys shop or something?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** no  
**Changbin:** we...went to the cemetery to met my dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** i'm so sorry  
**Felix:** i shouldn't have asked

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** you dont need to  
be sorry felix  
**Changbin:** you didn't know,  
and i didnt tell you before, anyway

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Changbin!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changbin glanced sideways at the door after he heard his mother calling him.

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** i'll talk to you later, felix :)  
**Changbin:** mom's calling me

 

 

 

 

 

**Felix:** sure binnie  
**Felix:** ❤❤

 

 

 

 

 

**Changbin:** dont call me binnie  
**Changbin:** ❤❤

 

 

 

 

Changbin swore he could hear Felix's barely contained laughter all the way from here, and he chuckled, heading towards the living room to face his mother.

 

 

 

 

His smile immediately disappeared though when his eyes fell on the object his mother was holding in her hand.

 

 

 

 

"Changbin..." He looked at his mother, feeling his heart drop at her saddening expression. "What's this?"

 

 

 

 

Changbin clenched his fists, hating how careless he was for not hiding that bottle of pills better. Now it was in the possession of his mother, and he knew he probably had to come clean about everything now.

 

 

 

 

"I..." he started, searching for the right words to say, "Those are...pills. To make me feel better."

 

 

 

 

"Who gave them to you?" Changbin's mother questioned, her tone gentle but firm. "Or did you go to the doctor without me knowing? Are...are you _sick_?"

 

 

 

 

"I--I didn't go to the doctor," Changbin said. He reached for the bottle, but his mother wouldn't let him take it. He looked directly at her eyes. "...Where did you find it?"

 

 

 

 

"I saw it in your room yesterday night, Changbin. But because of... what we had to do today, I couldn't question you about it until now," she explained, her eyebrows knitted in obvious thought. "So, where did you get this from? ...And why didn't you tell me about it earlier?"

 

 

 

 

Changbin rubbed his face with his hands, really dreading this situation right now. He didn't want to tell his mother what was actually happening to him, but now that she'd found out about the pills, he had to tell her the turth, or lie some more.

 

 

 

 

Changbin didn't like lying to his mother.

 

 

 

 

"I...I just need them to be well," he whispered. His words did nothing to shatter the stiffening silence that had came upon them, and Changbin couldn't bear to look his mother in the eye. "They're not...average pills. I...met a couple of guys who aren't human, and they're going to...help me get better."

  
Changbin's mother stared at the bottle in her hand, and her frown increased in magnitude. She looked sad, and a bit angry, and disappointed too. "...Why didn't you tell me, Changbin? I would've taken you to the hospital, and I'll still take you there. I don't want you to be sick."

Changbin's eyes widened at the possibility of having to go to the hospital. He'd arboured a deep hatred and fear for hospitals ever since his father died, and he wasn't about to change his opinion about them now. "No. I'm not going."

Changbin's mother stared at him incredulously, like she couldn't believe what she's just heard. "What? ...Why? I'm trying to keep you safe and healthy Changbin, and those doctors will figure something out--"

"It's not a normal sickness, mom," Changbin all but exclaimed. He tried to inhale deep breaths to calm himself, but it wasn't working. "I--I can't go there. I've already found a way to cure myself. You just have to trust me."

"Changbin, listen to me," his mother begged, "I want you to be well. I want you to be okay. You think I haven't noticed how weak and tired you've been this past week? You're always telling me not to worry, that everything's going to be fine, and that I should trust you, but how are you so sure that that's going to be the case? I want to bring you to a place that can help you get better, but you're rejecting my offer."

"I don't want to go to the hospital because it'll remind me of how my father died, and how _they_ couldn't prevent him from dying." A loud static rang through Changbin's ears, and a part of his mind told him to stop talking, to just _shut up_ , but he was an idiot, so he kept on talking. "I--I don't want to go there because I don't want to meet the same doctors and surgeons that were responsible for talking care of my dad, but couldn't do their job. You...you said he'd needed a heart surgery, right? Said he could've easily been saved, since everyone in that hospital knew what they were doing. S-So why didn't he live? If the surgeons were all skilled, why didn't he make it out alive?! It was because he was a Demon, and you know it too, mom. I-I don't ever want to go that place again, so if you truly want me to be safe, don't bring me there."

By the time Changbin was done, he was breathless and fuming, relieved that he'd been able to release his pent up frustration, but one look at his mother's face told him that he shouldn't have said anything at all.

He looked at his shoes, suddenly feeling ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry--"

Changbin's mother shook her head, her expression pained. "No--no, it's okay Changbin. I...I'm gonna head out for a bit, okay?"

Changbin looked up as soon as his mother placed the pill bottle on the table, grabbing a coat from the coat rack. "Mom--"

"There's food that you can microwave in the fridge if I'm not around when dinner comes," his mother cut in, putting on her coat. "But, I think I'll be back before then."

Then she opened the door and left the house in the span of a few seconds, before Changbin could fully process anything.

Changbin's breathing became ragged, and he tried to find his footing before he collapsed on himself. Fuck, he shouldn't have said anything, but he did, and now his mother was sad and possibly angry at him.

If there was one thing that Changbin couldn't handle, it was his mother getting sad or worried because of him, but now he'd managed to make those things happen because of his carelessness and his incapability to know when to shut up.

He grabbed the bottle and ran up the stairs into his room, falling on his bed and biting his lip so hard in order not to cry. He couldn't cry, because it'd only make him more miserable, and it'd solve nothing in the end. His situation wasn't going to change just because he was unhappy, and he had to accept that.

Who knew when Changbin's mother was going to come back? He only hoped that she'd return home safe and happier than she had been when she left, or else he'd never be able to forgive himself.

His phone vibrated at that moment, the sound cutting into the negative thoughts that had started forming around Changbin's head.

Changbin felt like ignoring whoever messaged him, but he couldn't do that. Typing out his password with his left hand, he took notice of his latest message.

**Felix:** are you done?  
**Felix:** talking with your mother i mean

 

Changbin decided to call Felix, and he didn't know the reason why.

"Changbin? What's up?" Felix greeted a few seconds later, his tone holding happiness in it.

"I..." Changbin paused, thinking over the words to say, "Can you come over? You...don't have to. I just wanted to ask..."

He could tell that Felix was worried about the way he spoke.

"Of course," Felix replied. "Is your mother home?"

"No. It's just me..."

"I'll be over soon. Just have to tell my parents that I'll be at your place."

"Okay."

Changbin ended the call, and trudged back to the living room in order to open the door for Felix.

Eventually, Felix knocked on the door and Changbin quickly opened it, pulling Felix in as he did so.

"Hey," Felix smiled after Changbin had locked the door.

"Hi." Changbin snaked his arms around Felix and tried to forget all that was bothering him at that moment.

Felix instantly copied Changbin's actions, and leaned in until their foreheads touched. "...Are you okay?"

"I'm not..." Changbin muttered. "I'll tell you everything later, but," he rested a palm on Felix's cheek, "I just want us to hang out first."

Felix leaned into Changbin's touch and grinned. "Okay."

Changbin could hear how Felix's heartbeat instantly sped up when he stepped forward and connected their lips together. Changbin bet his own heart was beating quickly too, but he wasn't concentrated on that right now. No, right now he was thinking about how soft and amazing Felix's lips felt against his, and how every touch that Felix gave never failed to make him feel like he was on fire. And he enjoyed that more than he thought he would.

 

_______

 

 

The night air was freezing, so Changbin made sure to put on the warmest black sweater he could find, and stared at how he looked in his attire in front of a mirror.

 

 

He looked mysterious and intimdating at the same time, which was what he'd been aiming for.

 

 

Changbin was going to Jisung's party, because the Vampire had invited him, and because he was curious as to what Jisung had up his sleeve.

 

 

Felix had expressed his relunctance to attend Jisung's party, but changed his mind last minute because he didn't want Changbin to go there alone.

 

 

Felix's dad was going to take them to the venue, and was going to bring them back too.

  
Changbin stared at his house one more time before he left, knowing that his mother was inside her room. She knew about him going to that party, and told him to be safe.

If it wasn't for the streetlights that brightened up every corner, Changbin would've blended into the darkness due to his black clothes and pair of shoes.

Felix was standing beside the front porch, surveying the area with his eyes for a particular someone.

Changbin's breath got caught in his throat when Felix spotted him and waved him over. The taller male looked incredibly attractive, with his blond hair slicked back to reveal his forehead, and had a black attire similar to Changbin's own.

"How do I look?" Felix asked hopefully, his dark red eyes staring back at Changbin. The half demon knew they were contacts, but they looked really realistic.

Changbin lightly smacked Felix's arm. "I told you not to cosplay as a demon but you still did it anyway."

Felix pouted, rubbing his arm. "I really wanted to do it, okay? Ow, it hurts."

"You look hot," Changbin complimented with a smile, and Felix's pout transformed into a full fledged grin.

The Australian leaned in and stole a kiss before Changbin could react to it. "Thank you, Binnie."

"I already told you I don't like nicknames."

"Baby."

"I hate petnames too," Changbin added, but he didn't sound convincing, especially with how his face burned at what Felix called him.

"Binnie it is then," Felix laughed, and after a few minutes, his father joined them outside.

Changbin placed his mask back on to protect his face from the cold, and to hide his blushing cheeks whenever Felix 'accidentally' brushed his hand against his during the car ride.

 

_______

 

 

Jisung's house was huge, and it didn't look like a house, it looked more like a mansion.

 

 

After Felix's father dropped them off, the two males found themselves surrounded by mind-numbing music and unaware students scurrying past them.

 

 

By the wide black gates, there were two men who looked like security guards that were very pale, checking the invitations that the students tossed towards them, before letting them in.

 

 

The amount of people there slightly frightened Changbin, because how many people did Jisung actually invite to this party of his? Did he invite the _whole school_?

 

 

"This looks good," Felix complimented, looking around the lit up house and at the outdoor pool that a couple of people were jumping around in.

 

 

Despite Changbin's nervousness, he had to agree with Felix. Everything looked sophisticated and unreal, even the food people passed around in their different costumes and clothes. The area around the house looked busy and was filled with so much chatter and music. "...Yep."

 

 

"Let's go inside," Felix suggested, and Changbin nodded along.

 

 

The interior of the house looked even more grand that the outside. The wide floors glistened under the bright fluorescent lights, and there appeared to be many rooms present. The two males followed where some other students were heading to, and they appeared to have entered the main room due to how many people were clustered in there.

 

 

The music was even louder than before, and Changbin started spotting more familiar looking people inside that space than he'd found outside.

 

 

He saw Jaeha and Hyunjin with a couple of other guys laughing and drinking from plastic red cups, but when he thought they had seen him, he was surprised to see their eyes glossing over him like he wasn't even there. Their cheerful expressions didn't change one bit, and they continued to talk the same way they had done before.

 

 

"Changbin!" Felix exclaimed over the loud music. He flashed a wide grin when Changbin turned to look at him. "I'm gonna go and find some drinks, alright? I'll be back soon."

 

 

"Okay," Changbin smiled, watching as Felix disappeared into the crowd.

 

 

Not even ten seconds after he was gone, Changbin felt another presence next to him. He didn't have to look at the person to know who he was.

 

 

"Enjoying the party?" The familiar low voice of Jisung asked, cutting through the loud music.

 

 

"I just got here." Changbin didn't know how Jisung found him so quickly, since he'd never seen Jisung since he'd came to the party. He fiddled with his sweater, wary of Jisung's company.

  
"...Okay," Jisung replied, staring straight at Changbin. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it soon though." With a light chuckle, he walked away and vanished into thin air, just like that.

 

No one, except for Changbin, noticed this, and he found that observation weird but was quick to dismiss it.

 

 

_______

 

 

"Let's dance," Felix told Changbin as he playfully dragged the shorter into the crowd, a bit light on his feet.

 

 

Hands intertwined and hearts alive with adrenaline, Changbin could almost forget the nagging feeling of dread that had been bugging him all night after he and Jisung had talked, and focus on being with Felix, and being with Felix alone.

 

 

Felix's arms were around Changbin, and the grin showcased on his face was nothing short of magnificent. Changbin felt so content with Felix at that moment, so much so that he started to ignore all those worries and uncertainty bringing him down. Only Felix could do that to him, and god did Changbin like Felix so much. He liked Felix so, so much, that his feelings for the Australian felt overwhelming at times.

 

 

And the best part of it all was that Felix felt the same, and he always made sure that Changbin knew it. Changbin loved every moment that he and Felix spent together, and he almost couldn't imagine not having the Australian in his life.

 

 

"Felix?" His voice was slightly above a whisper, but Felix heard him.

 

 

"Yeah?"

 

 

"I...I think I love--"

 

 

Someone tapped on a mic, distracting more than half of the student body. Heads turned to look at the perpetrator, but their expressions of annoyance turned into ones of joy when they saw Jisung on the floor above them, a spotlight on him.

 

 

Changbin realized that Jisung was dressed as what he actually was; a Vampire, and he looked more sinister than he usually looked at school, his skin paler than before and his eyes a striking red.

 

 

"Are you guys enjoying the party?" Jisung asked. The grins that followed suit answered his question. "Good. I'm glad. I made sure to save only the best, for the best." He paused, his friendly grin turning into one that looked almost daunting. "Now, _I need you guys to do something for me. I'll need the girls on the left, and the guys on the right_."

 

 

Changbin watched with surprise as Felix stepped away from Changbin, and joined the other guys that were gathering on the right.

 

 

Girls were starting to line up on the left side, and Changbin was left in the middle, along with Jaeha, who looked immensely troubled.

 

 

" _Good_ ," Jisung commended. " _Jaeha, come upstairs_."

 

 

Jaeha's troubled expression turned into one of nonchalance as she simply ascended up the stairs, and Changbin looked up at Jisung, narrowing his eyes.

 

 

Jisung shrugged at him. "This is a 'blood bash' afterall, Changbin. My brothers need to feed. You can also get what you want too. _Revenge_." Jisung focused his eyes back on the rest of the students. " _Please be patient, guys. The fun is just about to begin._ "

 

 

Changbin realized that this was Jisung's plan all along. _This_ was why so many people were invited to the party in the first place, because they were going to become food for Jisung's 'brothers'.

 

 

Dark figures started forming around the corners of the house, and Changbin's heart stopped when he realized what they were.

 

 

_Vampires_.

 


	18. hide ; xvii

Changbin snapped out of the shock that took over him fairly quickly when the first Vampire jumped down from the second floor and headed towards the line that held females.

Changbin looked up at where Jisung had stood, only to see that he and Jaeha were nowhere to be seen.

His heartbeat thrumming loudly inside his chest, Changbin quickly pushed through the throng of male students, not that surprised when they barely showed him resistance. They were under Jisung's control, so they had no sense of reality.

He had to find a way to snap them out of the spell that Jisung and the other Vampires had them under, but he had to get to Felix first. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something bad happened to Felix.

The Vampires were starting to feed on their first victims, but Changbin didn't let that distract him. They hadn't noticed Changbin yet, so the half demon had to be fast.

Since there were so many guys around him, it took him a while to find Felix, even mistaking some people as the Australian because of their hair colour.

When Changbin took notice of Felix behind a couple of males, he gripped the taller's wrist, staring right at him. Felix's eyes were unfocused and his expression appeared absentminded. He was looking at Changbin, but he wasn't _looking_ at him.

"Felix," Changbin breathed out, his voice betraying how scared he was, "listen to me."

Felix was still unresponsive, which made Changbin even more anxious because the clock was ticking and if he didn't act fast, the Vampires would have more students to feed on.

" _Felix, please snap out of it, okay_?" Changbin tried to channel _his_ own version of mind control, because Demons and demon hybrids had it to some degree, though it was nowhere as powerful as a Vampire's. " _You're being controlled by Jisung, but I need you to come back to reality_ , _okay? We need to get out of here._ " Changbin softly cupped Felix's face with his hands. " _Please_."

Felix continued staring at Changbin, but then he blinked, confusion taking over his delicate features.

"What...what happened?" Felix questioned, and Changbin stared back at the crowd of unaware students in the midst of blood sucking Vampires.

"Shh," Changbin warned, holding Felix's hand. "...Just come with me."

Fortunately, Felix kept his questions at bay and followed Changbin as they slithered through the line of males, quickly heading towards one of the dark hallways.

"What's happening?" Felix asked as soon as Changbin let his hand go. The Australian was staring at the rest of the students, puzzled as to why they looked so emotionless.

"Jisung's a Vampire. He put everyone under mind control to be food for other Vampires, including you, but I snapped you out of it," Changbin quickly explained, watching as fear took over Felix's eyes at the mention of who Jisung really was. "He--he took Jaeha somewhere with him, probably because she's not a full human. I need to find where he went to and put an end to all this."

"I'm not letting you go anywhere alone," Felix said, entwining Changbin's hand in his.

Changbin's heart swelled with happiness due to Felix's words, but that feeling quickly vanished when he realized the situation they were in. "I-I can't let you go with me to find Jisung. You're human, so that means you can easily be controlled into doing whatever those Vampires want you to do. I just need you to stay here, because it's safe, and stay hidden from view. You can't go outside too, because the house is most likely locked in."

Felix looked extremely hesitant to listen to Changbin's instructions, but eventually, he curtly nodded, relunctant to let Changbin's hand go. "Just...just promise me you'll be safe, yeah?"

"I will," Changbin replied, before runing through the hallway and up the spiralling steps. He heard something collide with the floor, but he didn't have enough time to look back and see what it was.

The darkness that was prevalent throughout the house helped Changbin hide himself from the Vampires, and his ears picked up on light footsteps that rounded down a corner. He let his hearing direct him towards where he needed to go, and after climbing some stairs, he spotted Jisung gripping the arm of an unresponsive Jaeha who just let Jisung drag her wherever he liked.

With bated breath and quick but light footsteps, Changbin followed behind Jisung without the Vampire knowing. It was when they came across an elevator that Jisung swiftly turned around, meeting Changbin's eyes.

Slight surprise overtook Jisung's copper coloured irises, but that emotion quickly disappeared.

"Where are you going with Jaeha?" Changbin asked.

"None of your business," Jisung spat, before smirking a bit. "Where's your boyfriend? I thought you guys would be busy trying to escape."

"You think I don't know that other Vampires are probably outside?" Changbin narrowed his eyes. "And I can't leave without making you stop whatever it is that you're doing," he glanced at the half angel next to Jisung, "and to leave Jaeha alone."

"Who cares anyway?" Jisung gave a noncommital shrug, "my brothers won't hurt those students. Maybe. They just want their blood. No one'll remember anything tomorrow anyway, at least the ones who survive."

"Why are you doing this?" Changbin asked, hoping to try and stall Jisung from whatever he was planning to do with Jaeha, and maybe try and convince him to stop the mind control he had the students under. "I...I thought you liked everyone."

"I don't _like_ anyone here. The only person I slightly tolerate is you, because we are similar, but that's it."

Changbin didn't expect Jisung's answer at all. "Then...why did you treat me like you did?"

"Because that was what everyone was doing," Jisung replied, chuckling lowly, even if it held no trace of humour in it. "Everyone was hating on you, so I did it too. My hate only grew for those humans, because I realized that they'd do the same to me too if they knew who I really was. You should be glad that all this is happening. All the people that treated you like shit are now getting hurt."

Changbin stared down at those students below him, all of who were under the mercy of Vampires that he'd never seen before. True, a majority of them participated in treating Changbin badly and judged him because he wasn't like them, but that didn't mean that he could watch them die like this.

Jisung glanced at his watch, before tugging on Jaeha's wrist. "It's been great chatting with you, Changbin, but I have to leave now."

Changbin quickly spun around, seeing that Jisung and Jaeha were getting closer to that elevator. He promptly took a few steps towards them and pulled Jaeha away, seperating her and Jisung.

Jisung frowned, the red in his eyes glowing with more intensity. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Yes, Jaeha and the others might've treated me badly over the years, but I can't let you do anything bad to them, or her. Please, stop this," Changbin said.

For a moment, Jisung's shoulder sagged a bit, and he tightly shut his eyes. "...No, you _must_ do this, Jisung. You must..."

Chnagbin steadily pulled Jaeha backwards with him, confused with Jisung's sudden strange behaviour. The Vampire clutched his head with his hands, running his hands through his dark hair over and over again.

Then, all that stopped. Jisung stood up straight, his calm expression causing a chill to run down Changbin's spine.

With two abrupt steps, Jisung was suddenly in front of Changbin and grabbed his neck, lifting him and harshly tossing him to one side. Pain seeped through every bone in Changbin's body, and he tried to stand up, minor black dots clouding his vision.

Jisung grabbed Jaeha's hand and pulled her with him towards the elevator, his movements unsually sharp and hurried. He had no time to waste. He pressed on the botton that was responsible for opening the elevator, and loudly cursed when it couldn't open.

He casted one look Changbin's way, and ran up the stairs that were going to lead him to his destination, with Jaeha by his side.

Changbin gritted his teeth, and forced himself to get back on his feet. His neck ached, but he ignored it for now, following after Jisung and Jaeha.

He spotted a pair of wings and long black hair at the right, and knew it was Jaeha. Quickening his steps, he continued moving until he was just a few feet behind them. Changbin realized that Jisung was heading to the roof, and that brought a feeling of apprehension over the demon hybrid, because who knew the reason why Jisung was going there?

"You're still here?" Jisung asked, glaring at Changbin. "Go away. You're not needed."

"Let Jaeha go."

"She's needed. So obviously, I can't let her go," Jisung shrugged, once again.

Changbin wondered why on earth Jisung would need Jaeha like this, since she wasn't even fully human. Then it dawned on him that Jaeha was half angel, so that meant her blood was more valueable than a mere human's own. There must've been another Vampire on the roof that was waiting for Jaeha, or Jisung was going to have her for himself.

Changbin got distracted from his thoughts when searing pain flowed through his face, and his back collided with the floor. Jisung had punched him, and now he was flinging his hands back and forth, his eyebrows knitted with obvious annoyance.

"You don't give up, do you?" Jisung questioned with a bitter tone. "Stop trying to be a hero and leave Jaeha and I alone. Jiwon's waiting."

Changbin stood up and without warning ran towards Jisung and roughly hit him, causing the Vampire to fall and skid over the linoleum floor. Changbin hadn't tested his strength like this on anyone before, but now he fully knew what he was capable of.

Jisung flew towards Changbin in record time, and grabbed on his clothes, kicking him in the abdomen. "Fuck off, Demon."

He kept on kicking at Changbin, and each hit hurt more than the last. Changbin was sure Jisung was going to break some ribs if he continued like this.

Changbin clenched his fist and slammed it against Jisung's jaw, making the taller male stagger backwards. He used that time to grab Jisung's shoulders, and kneed him across the floors like Jisung had previously done.

Changbin's heart was beating at a quicker pace than before, plus he felt more weary than ever, but he ignored that feeling. He couldn't afford to be distracted, because he knew he could die at the hands of Jisung if he wasn't paying attention.

Jisung had already come back for him, and when the Vampire twisted Changbin's arm so much that it hurt a lot, Changbin looked right at Jisung, trying to ignore how blurry his vision was getting.

"Don't...don't do this," Changbin muttered, and for a slight second, Jisung looked vulnerable.

"Leave me alone! I...I can't disappoint Jiwon!" Jisung exclaimed, forcefully pushing Changbin down to his knees. Changbin chewed on his lip to try and conceal the amount of pain that he felt. "I don't want to hurt or kill you, but you leave me no choice."

A couple of floors down, the sound of a door breaking apart was heard, followed by a couple of screams. Jisung looked ahead of him, before suddenly letting Changbin go.

The Vampire quickly made his way over to where Jaeha stood, flinging her over his shoulder like it was no big deal, and headed up the final flight of stairs.

The commotion below Changbin got louder and louder, and Changbin started walking once again. His left leg stung so bad, and every breath he took felt like he was swallowing shards of glass. He was sure there was some blood here and there on his face, but he didn't have time to check up on it now.

Getting to the top of the stairs took some time, but Changbin eventually made it. There was a black door at the end of it all, and Changbin used all of his strength to push it open and step out.

He almost fell backwards due to the intensity of the wind that surrounded the rooftop, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

Right at the end of the roof was this kind of bright blue portal that swirled around in an anticlockwise motion. In front of it were Jisung and Jaeha, standing as if they were waiting for something.

Changbin'd heard of portals that could only open on the night of Halloween, and he guessed that this was one of them.

Something dark and unknown started forging before them, and Jisung took a few steps backwards, clasping his hands behind his back. The dark figure started becoming more opaque and human-like, and that was when Jisung turned around and saw Changbin there.

"Get out of here!" Jisung shouted, but it sounded more like a desperate plea. The shadow in front of the porch continued to form. " _Now_."

A sinister smile made its way on the shadow's face, and Changbin stepped forward, only for Jisung to grab his wrist to prevent him from moving any further.

"Get out of here. You will die if you don't move," Jisung commanded.

"Destroy the portal."

"I can't, and I won't." Jisung moved closer to Changbin and pushed him backwards. "Leave."

In the next second, the door was slammed open, and Changbin watched with disbelief when Woojin pulled Jaeha behind him and Minho walked over to the portal and started closing it up with a few chants.

Jisung's expression became one of apparent fury, and headed straight for Minho when Seungmin ran up behind him and covered his eyes. Jisung immediately fell into the Elf's arms, unconscious.

"What...what is happening?" Changbin asked. Two arms snaked around him, and Changbin winced, turning around to see Felix there. The Australian had a few cuts and scratches here and there, and he smiled when he and Changbin stared at each other.

"You're safe, okay? Everyone is. Minho closed up that portal, so everything's going to be fine."

"...Where are Chan and Jeongin?" Changbin asked, his voice a bit jumbled up. It wasn't his fault, as he was tired and in pain.

"Fighting off the rest of the Vampires. But...they're no threat to us now," Felix reassured, slowly stroking Changbin's hair, "Thank you for stalling Jisung until Chan and his friends came, baby."

Changbin nodded. He felt happy that everything was getting fixed now, and that Felix was safe and holding him in his arms. So when he closed his eyes, he didn't really mind it when darkness coated his vision.


	19. hide ; xviii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changbin and Felix spend some quality time together.

The first thing Changbin registered when he woke up was how cold he felt. He subconsciously curled his arms around himself to try and conserve some heat, unintentionally earning the attention of the person closest to him.

"Changbin! You're awake."

Arms wrapped around Changbin's form, and the half demon became startled until he realized who the person hugging him was.

"...Felix? I'm...I feel cold," Changbin spoke, and Felix immediately drew nearer to him, draping a soft blanket around the shorter's shoulders. Changbin muttered a low thanks as his eyes darted over his surroundings. He realized with relief that he was inside his room, but then confusion took over him. "What...happened?"

"You kind of fell asleep when you were up on the roof with Jisung and Jaeha. Your phone had fallen when you went to search for Jisung, and I knew your password so I was able to call up the others. Minho cleared everyone's memory of that party, including Jisung's, because apparently Jisung was being controlled by the person that was coming through that portal. Your mom thinks that you're just tired, and she's out, but she trusts me enough to be alone with you," Felix explained with a slight smile. "Seungmin healed a lot of your wounds too. Said that you'd experience some weakness though, at least before we head to Faey tomorrow."

Changbin heard everything that Felix told him, but one point seemed to stick out more than the others. " _We_?"

Felix looked right at Changbin, running his thumb over the shorter's hand in small, circular movements. "I'm coming along with you."

Changbin's head jerked up in surprise, and the blanket fell off him due to his sudden movement. "No-- _no_. You can't."

"I want to," Felix frowned. "Chan explained that it'll only take a full day, and tomorrow's Sunday, so..."

"I...I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Who _knows_ what we'd encounter over there?" Changbin tried to reason, and Felix seemed to be in thought.

The Australian then shook his head. "You're always telling me about how you don't want me to get hurt, and I won't, Changbin. I...I just want to be there when you get healed, and see you okay and perfectly healthy afterwards."

"But...what if I don't get healed?" Changbin asked, his voice a whisper. The silence surrounding them made his voice sound like the loudest one ever, though. "...What if I don't come out alive even after everything?"

Changbin searched for Felix's eyes, but the Australian took that moment to pull him closer to him and placed his chin on Changbin's shoulder. "You _will_ be alive, Changbin. I know you will."

But there was no guarantee that that was going to be the case. There was a high chance that the tribal mountain could be the last thing Changbin saw tomorrow. There was also a chance that Changbin could lose someone important to him, just because of his decision. But if Changbin didn't try anything, then he'd just continue to die slowly, and there was nothing more painful than that.

Changbin hooked his arms around Felix's neck, burying his head on the taller's shoulder. Felix didn't seem to mind Changbin's sudden touchiness, and tightened his hold on Changbin instead, letting out a pained smile.

"I really don't want to leave you, Felix," Changbin muttered, trying to control his erratic breathing. He liked how Felix held him like he didn't want to let him go, and Changbin did _not_ want to let Felix go. He really didn't. He wanted to continue to stay by Felix's side, and to keep on seeing the Australian's face everyday. "I--I don't want to let you, a-and mom, go. I don't want to..."

"And you're not going to," Felix whispered, planting a gentle kiss next to the shell of Changbin's left ear. "I won't let you. I'll...I'll be the first person you see after you wake up. I promise you..."

Changbin's lower lip trembled, and he sucked it between his teeth to keep them from moving. It wasn't Changbin's intention to cry at all, and he _didn't_ want to cry, but he couldn't control those sudden tears that started running down his face. He couldn't stop replaying every single moment that he and Felix had spent together, from the time they first met, until now. He should've appreciated every second he'd spent with Felix more than he'd done, because now he was at a risk of losing everything he ever wanted, and the future was uncertain. _God_ , he didn't want to leave the people he loved behind.

"Don't cry, Changbin," Felix pleaded, but Changbin knew that Felix was trying really hard to hold back his tears as well. He kept on hugging Changbin and uttering soothing and encouraging words into his ear. Felix's words helped tremendously, but that didn't mean that they were going to come true.

"You'll be okay, baby," Felix spoke, loosening his grip on Changbin to watch the half demon square in his eyes, "you'll be fine. Just--just trust me."

Changbin nodded, relaxing into Felix's hand when the Australian stroked the side of Changbin's jaw. "I really do, Felix."

"Good, I'm glad you do," Felix broke out into a mesmerizing smile. "I-- _oh_."

Changbin had interrupted Felix's sentence by leaning in to press his lips against Felix's own pair, silencing the taller boy soon after. Changbin held on to Felix's shoulders as he deepened the kiss, slowly pushing his tongue into the taller's mouth.

Felix responded relatively quickly, and soon enough their lips were moving in sync. He pulled on the material of Changbin's shirt and flipped them over until he was on top of Changbin.

Changbin let out a short huff of air after he'd moved away to retrieve some oxygen, and Felix placed a thumb under Changbin's eyes to wipe away the tears that had formed under them.

"I don't want to make you cry Changbin," Felix said, his tone sounding sincere, "I only want to be a cause of your happiness."

"I know... but I can't help it. Just thinking about tomorrow fills me with anxiety, and the fact that you're coming along makes me feel even more nervous."

"Let's not...think about tomorrow for now. Let's just enjoy today for the time being, as spend as much time together as possible. We don't have anything planned today, afterall," Felix replied. He placed a loose strand of hair behind Changbin's right ear, and kisseed his forehead. "Okay?"

Changbin softly chuckled as he let Felix pull him up to his feet. "Okay." Sure, he was uncertain about what tomorrow was going to bring, and worried about whether he was going to survive or not, but he decided to push everything to the back of his mind for now, and focus on having fun with Felix today.

For Felix's sake.

_______

 

"I forgot how much I love pizza," Felix commented as he shoved a slice into his mouth and let out an overexaggerated moan that made Changbin's ears burn in embarrassment.

 

He smacked his boyfriend's arm, catching his attention. "We're at a public place, Felix. _Control yourself_."

  
Felix just laughed, almost choking on his meal, and Changbin wondered how he even got stuck with someone like Felix. Then Felix smiled at him and Changbin remembered why. "Okay okay, I'll stop. I just like pizza a lot. Wanna try some?"

Changbin warily looked around the fast food place they were inside of, and stared back at Felix. "Uh...I'm not really sure."

Felix leaned in until his face was next to Changbin's ear. "Come on, Binnie. We're at a corner anyway. You can pull down your mask and I'll quickly feed some to you. Please?"

Despite Changbin's unwillingness to listen to Felix's suggestion, he somehow found himself doing as Felix had asked, his cheeks swirling with bright pink on them when Felix drew a pizza slice towards Changbin's face and made him take a bite out of it.

The barbecued flavoured pizza tasted amazing, and even more so since Felix was the one who fed it to Changbin.

"Delicious, right?" Felix asked while grinning, and Changbin quickly nodded. "And--Oh! You should try this one too!"

He fed another kind of pizza to Changbin, and the shorter male didn't put up much resistance towards it. How could he, when he loved Felix so much?

The rest of their time at that fast food place was spent trying pizza that Felix usually fed to Changbin, and the half demon didn't mind it as much as he thought he would. He liked it whenever Felix fed him, and his satisfied expression when Changbin gave a nod of approval when he liked the pizza he tasted. The activity was simple, but it didn't fail to make Changbin forget about where he was going tomorrow, at least for a while.

_______

  
After leaving the fast food place, Felix proceeded to pull out his phone and wrap an arm around Changbin. "Let's take a selfie!"

Felix looked so excited by his idea, and his excitement didn't dwindle in the slightest when Changbin looked away and shook his head.

"...I don't want to."

"Please," Felix begged, jutting his bottom lip out as he clung even more to Changbin's body. "We've never taken a picture together before, well--okay, we _have_ , but it was one with food in front of us. This one's just going to be of us. Alone." He locked eyes with Changbin. "We can take the picture at a more private place if you want. There're a lot of people here anyway."

Changbin was glad that Felix didn't seem to be weirded out by his hesitance to take a picture of himself, but he felt extremely nervous due to the fact that he and Felix were going take selfies together. "I--sure..."

Changbin felt weird seeing his bare face on a camera as he took a seat next to Felix on the vibrantly green grass, resting his head on Felix's comfortable shoulder.

The scenery around them created this sort of magical feel, with the deep green trees and their thick brown trunks, to the fallen golden coloured leaves that flew wherever the wind took them, to the sun that peeked through the clouds occasionally, as if it was unsure when to come in. Everything looked nice; _really_ nice, but the Australian seated beside Changbin outshone everything else.

"Okay..." Changbin smiled, "take the picture now."

But Felix wasn't taking it. He still had his phone positioned in front of them, and the smile on his face looked sort of smug.

"Felix," Changbin slithered his arms down Felix's shoulders. "Why aren't you taking the picture?"

" _Wow_ ," Felix commented, turning to watch Changbin, "you look beautiful."

Changbin should've known Felix was going to pull this kind of thing, so he pushed Felix to the side and let out an exasperated sigh. "Really Felix?"

Felix laughed while rubbing his arm. "I'm sorry okay? But I mean it. You look really beautiful."

For the thousandth time that day, Changbin started to blush. "...Stop it."

Felix moved closer, and, after kissing Changbin's cheek, shook his head. "I can't, especially not when my boyfriend looks so good, and so _hot_ too."

"Oh my god, just--just take the picture already," Changbin stammered, a pink flush taking over his face. It was definitely not due to the cold.

Felix giggled, before finally nodding. "M'kay."

In record time, he snapped a selfie of both him and Changbin, and started taking a couple more until the older boy realized what was happening and tried to grab the phone from Felix's hand, which resulted in the Australian running away.

_______

 

Felix and Changbin spent so much time in that park that the evening rolled around without them noticing until later. 

 

They soon stood up from their positions and started walking towards the exit, along with a couple others. 

 

"You took too many pictures," Changbin lightly scolded Felix, finding enough courage within him to hug the taller's arm, "...and most of them were of me."

 

Felix was pleasently surprised by Changbin's actions, a soft smile making its way to his face. "...Yeah. I can't believe it's night time already..."

 

Felix's words yanked Changbin back to the reality he wasn't ready to face just yet, and the half demon focused on the crunching sound his shoes made when they met with the gravel on the roads. "I guess."

 

"I didn't mean to remind you of tomorrow," Felix apologized, realizing his mistake, "I'm sorry."

 

Changbin patted Felix's bicep in reassurance. "It's okay. I mean, we _are_ going to Faey tomorrow." 

 

The pale crescent moon stared down at the two males as they continued their strolling. The stars next to the moon shone brightly, and while they were pretty to look at, Changbin was too distracted by Felix. 

 

His eyes traced over Felix's deep brown eyes, down to the slope of his freckled nose, and landed on the taller's plush rose coloured lips when Felix bit on the bottom half. 

 

Felix's eyes darted over to Changbin, and his eyebrows rose in questioning. "What?"

 

"I love you." Changbin just said it like that, without any warning beforehand, and his normally sluggish pulse picked up its speed. He was sure he loved Felix, even if they hadn't been together for that long. His feelings were enough for him to throw all caution and second thoughts out the window. He only hoped Felix felt the same.

 

Felix's eyes momentarily expanded in size, the deep brown in them reflecting off the light coming from the moon. Then, his lips tugged up at the ends to form a genuine grin, and pushed Changbin closer to him to hug him. "I love you too, Changbin."

 

"Thank you," Changbin smiled, feeling happy and sad at the same time.

 

"Hey, why are you thanking me? You don't have to thank me for loving you," Felix stated, looking back at the shorter male.

 

Changbin shook his head. "It's...it's not just that. I-I just want to thank you for, _everything_ , you know? For sticking with me for this long, and for being my friend when no one else wanted to. You're amazing, and kind, and so nice, and... I don't know what I'd do without you."

 

Felix was teary eyed as he nodded. He held both of Changbin's hand. "Yeah, of course I'd stick with you. I'll always stick with you. And I'd do over it again if I had to."

  
Changbin pulled down his mask just to show Felix that he was grinning. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. And...what you said was really romantic."

"It wasn't."

"It _was_ ," Felix pressed.

"I'm not romantic."

"Okay, say something that isn't romantic, then," Felix challenged, staring at Changbin with an expectant smile on his face.

"Uhm, why count all your freckles when I can just kiss them all anyway? They're too pretty," Changbin commented, laughing as he did so. "See? That wasn't romantic at all."

Felix beamed. "...You can do it when we get back home."

Changbin raised his eyebrows. "Do what?"

"Kiss all my freckles. They're in dire need of your love and affection, Changbin."

"I--No way," Changbin sighed, walking away. Felix immediately followed after him.

"But...it isn't a _bad_ idea. I'd really love it if you did so. Really."

"No."

"I know you'll do it."

"I _won't_."

Changbin ended up kissing all of Felix's freckles on their way home.


	20. hide; xix

"So...you're leaving in a couple of minutes?" Changbin's mother inquired from where she sat by a table, crossing her elbows over the surface.

Changbin turned around as he pulled on his jacket. "...Yes, mom. We'll be back the day after tomorrow. I promise." He stared at the windows, which revealed how dark it was outside. That was expected, because it was curently eleven twenty at night.

"We will," Felix mirrored, an encouraging smile stretching across his face. His parents thought he was having a sleep over at Changbin's place, and was going to visit a friend's place for the next twenty four hours, so it wasn't hard for them to agree to let Felix go.

Chan was going to pick them up  in a few minutes along with the others, and then they were going to get inside the portal to Faey with Jungkook's help. Hopefully everything was going to end well.

Still, Changbin's mother didn't look convinced, and, sensing how worried his mother was, Changbin walked up to her and placed his hand on her own. "Mom, it's okay. I'll be back, and when I am, I'll be healed, and I'll be better. I promise."

Changbin's mother let out a tight smile, and placed her free hand on the side of Changbin's face. "I...I know you'll be okay. I'll be there, waiting for you when you come back. I promise."

Changbin couldn't help the grin that made its way over his face, and it became larger in size when his mother mirrored it. "Thank you, mom."

"You're welcome, sweetie." Even if they'd had their share of disagreements and fights, Changbin knew that his mother loved him and only wanted to best for him. He loved his mother too, and that was why he was going on this journey, because he wanted to show her the best part of him; the healthy, happy part. That was what his mother deserved. Always.

"I love you," Changbin told her, because he meant it. He really did, and if there was a chance that he wasn't going to make it, he wasn't going to wait until it was too late.

"I love you too, Changbin," she answered, "very much. I'll always love you."

Changbin leaned in and wrapped his arms around his mother, hugging her. She froze for less than a second, before reciprocating the hug. Changbin placed his head on her shoulder, sniffling and trying to push back any tears or sobs that were threatening to break out.

"And you," Changbin's mother looked at Felix after she and Changbin had pulled apart from their hug, "you better protect my son from any bad things that are out there, alright?"

Felix saluted Changbin's mother, and Changbin's ears were tinted a deep pink colour. "Yes, ma'am."

"That's good," she chuckled, "and protect yourself too, along with your friends that are coming to pick you up."

"I will." Felix glanced at Changbin with a soft smile adorning his lips. " _Especially_ Changbin."

Changbin pointedly avoided staring right at the Australian, since he was already blushing too much, and hoped that Chan and the others would show up soon. Felix and Changbin's mother continued talking about him, to the half demon's embarrassment, and he stared at his watch to check the time.

As soon as he did, a minor car honking sound sliced through the silence of the neighbourhood, and a bright ray of light briefly shone through one of the window.

"That must be Chan," Felix voiced out loud, standing up to his feet. He looked at Changbin's mother. "I guess we'll get going now."

"Okay," Changbin's mother replied, getting up from her seat too. She followed Changbin as he and Felix walked out the door, and wished them a safe journey.

"We will," Changbin told her, before getting inside the van that Chan had been waving at them from.

Changbin could spot the rest of the guys inside the van. Woojin was seated at the front with Chan, while Minho and Seungmin were looking through a black bag, seemingly oblivious to his and Felix's presence. Jeongin greeted them as soon as he saw them.

"Hey Jeongin," Changbin smiled, taking the back seat.

Felix promptly joined him, before greeting Jeongin as well.

"So, everyone's here right?" Woojin asked, turning around to look at everyone inside the vehicle.

"Yeah," Seungmin said.

Minho nodded, silently chanting a spell that made Seungmin's glasses spin around. The Elf tried to take back his glasses, but all to no avail.

"Give me back my glasses!" Seungmin spat, and Jeongin started cackling. The youngest of them all was dressed all in black, and he looked more mature and dangerous than he'd ever looked ever since Changbin had known him. He wondered if Jeongin was an Alpha.

"Those glasses are so ugly, they need to be burned. I can do that if you want," Minho stated, "It'll be practice for what I'll do at the tribal mountain."

Seungmin folded his arms. "Chan!"

"Yes?" Chan asked, stopping the conversation he'd been having with Woojin while driving.

"What is it this time?" Woojin sighed.

"Minho won't give me back my glasses!"

Changbin leaned on the leather seat in front of him, and placed his head on the cushioney material that the seat was made out of. Chan and his friends/roommates reminded the half demon of a miniature family, a noisy one at that. There was never a dull moment with them, and he'd eventually found himself liking their company more and more. Apart from Felix and Changbin's mother, they were the closest Changbin had ever gotten to having real friends, and they cared about him enough to go to another world just to cure him.

Despite all this though, Changbin couldn't stop himself from feeling slight second-hand embarrassment from how loud they were being, especially around Felix, who was basically a new-comer in the eyes of them.

"Hey." Changbin poked Felix's arm, garnering the taller male's attention. "They're...always like this."

"Really?" Felix smiled, leaning on the leather seat next to Changbin's own in order to watch him better. "I don't mind it at all."

"Even when they're crazy?"

"We heard that," Woojin called out, but he was laughing.

"But we _are_ crazy," Jeongin mused. "Changbin's right about that."

"True," Minho smiled. He snapped his fingers, and Seungmin's glasses disappeared once again.

"I am _this_ close to strangling you. Return my glasses, or else you'll regret it. I have powers too." Seungmin glared at the witch next to him.

The glasses appeared on the vehicle's roof, and as Seungmin tried to take it, his fingers went through them like they didn't even exist at all.

Felix giggled at how frustrated the Elf looked.

"Uh oh," Jeongin spoke. He looked highly amused when Seungmin and Minho started hurtling spells towards one another. "Might as well go to sleep. Wake me up when we get to Jungkook's place."

Felix's eyes fell on Changbin, and the half demon quickly grew nervous with Felix's eyes on him like that.

Changbin rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"You can fall asleep, you know? On my shoulder. I could tell how tired and antsy you were throughout today. I'll wake you up when we get to our destination."

Changbin felt like disagreeing. He felt like saying that he wasn't tired, but then he knew that he'd just be forcing himself to stay awake when he needed sleep, so he ended up agreeing to Felix's suggestion. He nodded, watching as Felix relaxed into his seat and patted the space next to him for Changbin to seat on.

Changbin slowly advanced closer to the Australian, before doing as Felix had asked by resting his head on Felix's shoulders. As Felix circled an arm around Changbin's form, the half demon felt like he was a couple of seconds away from drifting asleep. Felix's comforting body and warmth made staying awake difficult, and the slow song Felix was humming made the situation even more relaxing. Changbin focused on nothing else other than the rhythm of Felix's heart, because it assured him that the human was alive, and was there, and that he'd always be there for Changbin, because that was what they'd promised each other. Felix would continue to be there to comfort Changbin and be his haven when times got rough, and Changbin would do the same for Felix, over and over again, if he had to.

He just hoped he'd be lucky enough to continue doing so.

 

_______

  
"...We're here," Felix whispered, gently bringing Changbin back into consciousness. When Changbin opened his eyes, Felix patted his black hair before flicking his forehead, to Changbin's surprise.

"Why did you do that for?" Changbin questioned, frowning as a result of the brief flare of pain that he'd encountered.

"Just wanted to make sure that you were fully awake," Felix grinned. He grabbed Changbin's hand. "Come on, the others are already leaving. Jungkook's at the front, I think."

Changbin relunctantly followed Felix out of the van, which had been parked in some kind of clearing behind a house, and spotted the others with their stuff at the front, along with a black haired guy that Changbin had never seen before, and the half demon guessed that he was Jungkook. His eyes shone without them really meaning to, and the delicate and near transluscent looking wings were folded on his back, revealing how long they actually were.

"We're heading into that forest over there," Jungkook stated, straight to the point. He and Chan started walking, and everyone else followed behind them. The area they were in had a lot of greenery and shrubs, that it was almost overwhelming. That also meant that it was insanely cold, and while Chan didn't look particularly bothered by the temperature, Changbin was definitely affected.

He shoved his slightly shaking hands into the pockets of his jacket, and stared down at his feet to make sure that he wouldn't end up tripping on a tree trunk or something.

Wordlessly, Felix stepped right next to Changbin and slung an arm around his shoulder. The half demon instantly felt warmer.

Changbin smiled at Felix. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I really wished you could make the temperature rise, but it'd really affect you. I hope you aren't feeling so cold now."

"No, I'm not. Thanks to you." Changbin sighed, letting himself relax on top of the taller's chest. No one said anything, since everyone was used to their closeness by now, but a certain kind of stiffness hung around in the air, because Changbin was basically in a life and death situation right now. Everyone hoped for good news and prepared themselves to take on the bad one, but that didn't mean that they wanted anything unfortunate to happen.

"We're here," Jungkook's calm sounding voice spoke after some minutes, breaking through the silence, and Changbin came back to reality. He registered that not to far away from him was the portal that they were supposed to enter. It looked as dark and as mysterious as the forest they were in, and Jungkook stepped aside to allow them space.

"It closes at twelve midnight. Human time," Jungkook continued. "I hope you guys have watches that have the human time on them."

"Yes, we do." Seungmin replied.

"Great," Jungkook answered. He gave a small smile that made him appear nicer. "Good luck." Addressing Changbin, he added, "Hope you get healed. The tribal mountain's very powerful."

"Thanks," Changbin told the fairy, managing a smile even though he felt queasy on the inside.

"Let's get in," Woojin informed everyone, "we don't have time to waste."

"I'm going first," Jeongin cracked his knuckles while stepping closer to the portal. His clothes flapped about in the psuedo wind that the portal gave out. He continued to walk towards it, until he disappeared completely.

Minho went in next, and Woojin followed soon after.

Chan turned to watch Felix and Changbin. "Hope you guys don't feel nervous. It can feel scary at first, because it literally sucks you in, but you'll be fine. Just don't lose your footing." With that, he headed into the portal, vanishing within a few seconds.

Felix brought his and Changbin's hands together. Facing the half demon, he muttered, "You ready?"

"Are _you_?"

"Nope," Felix laughed, "but let's do this. Together." He moved closer to the dark portal, and then quickly entered, pulling Changbin inside along with him.

The force within the portal was strong, and within a second Changbin felt like he was floating around in turbulent waves, but instead of them being made of water, they were made of air. He almost tripped, but ended up not doing so, because Felix was there, like he always had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait!


	21. hide; xx

"Are the rest of you guys alright?" was the first thing Changbin heard the second he stepped foot on a hard, rocky surface. He wordlessly nodded at the speaker, who happened to be Chan, who held a flashlight, and found himself placing a palm on the stony wall opposite him.

Before him were stairs that led up into some place that Changbin didn't know about, and the area would've been completely submerged in darkness if not for the flashlights that Woojin and Chan held in hand.

"I wouldn't advice you touching those walls," Minho said, addressing Changbin, "many spooky insects and small animals are in these kind of caves."

Changbin immediately leaned back, and glared at Felix when the Australian laughed at his reaction.

"Shut up, Minho," Jeongin countered. "He likes to trick everyone with this."

Minho scowled, and his frown deepened when Seungmin agreed with Jeongin.

Chan smiled at all of them, before clearing his throat to alert them of what he was about to say. "Okay, we have to get going now. Jungkook provided me with a map, and since we're kind of in the wilderness and not around a lot of civilization, the chances of us getting spotted by the fairies is very slim. The journey to the tribal mountain take about like, two days."

" _Two_ days?" Felix voiced out with obvious surprise.

"The time around here is _very_ different from human time," Woojin clarified, "Seungmin and I have visited here before, afterall. But, nonetheless we have to hurry."

They all started walking up the steps, and with every sound their shoes made on top them, the more Changbin thought something or someone was going to come for them. His fear was irrational though, because he could defend himself, and the people he surrounded himself with knew how to do so too.

When they got out of the end of the cave, Changbin was surprised by how bright everything was in comparison to where he'd just been. True, they were inside a forest, but Changbin could see every detail of the soil and trees that circled around him.

"It must be daytime," Chan spoke up, looking through what looked to be the map. "Okay, we _were_ in one of the caves that are on the edges of Faey, and the map says we have to go...north, for the time being."

Jeongin let out a low groan a few minuted after they continued walking. "Gosh, this is too tiring. Can't Minho just...zap us inside the tribal mountain or something?"

Minho placed an offended hand on his chest and gasped lightly. "Excuse you, I am _not_ your slave. Also, Magic can't grant what we can easily do by ourselves, so stop being a lazy brat."

Woojin stifled a laugh, and Jeongin huffed, kicking a rock away rather agressively.

Despite Jeongin's sour mood, the atmosphere was light and childlike, which made Changbin forget about his problems for a short while. The forest scenery looked refreshing, Chan and Woojin joked around a lot, and Changbin got to hold Felix's hand a lot, which was always nice.

"What's the time now on Earth?" Woojin asked, and Seungmin chose to answer.

"It's 3:18 AM."

Changbin was surprised at hearing that it was still early in the morning on Earth, which meant that they were probably going to get to the tribal mountain on time, that is, if they didn't encounter any troubles.

Changbin thought too soon.

There were sounds coming from the far distance off to the right, and the males stopped in their tracks, not knowing what was making those sounds. It sounded like a stampede, and Changbin wondered if they were going to come across an army of fairies. He hoped not.

"What are you doing here?"

A couple of beings stood a few feet from them, and their short stature did nothing to lessen how intimidating they looked with their spears and bow and arrows.

Felix subconciously drew Changbin closer to him, and muttered, "Who _are_ they?"

"Gnomes, I guess," Changbin replied. He'd never came across them before, but he knew that they were generally nice to others. Generally.

"We have something to do," Chan replied, mostly to the gnome that appeared to be the leader; a stocky young male with long red hair.

"What is that thing?" The leader asked, and Changbin could see Jeongin rolling his eyes next to him. Changbin agreed with the Werewolf's reaction, because the more they spent being idle, the more time they'd be wasting.

"We're heading to the tribal mountain," Woojin smiled, though it looked a little bit strained, "and we have a very limited time to do so."

"You're not supposed to be here. Fairies don't like visitors," one of the gnomes stated.

" _You_ aren't supposed to be here either," Seungmin argued, "so we won't let anyone else know if you guys keep your mouths shut."

The leader frowned, before pointing a spear at Felix, to Changbin's and everyone else's dismay. "Give us the human, and then you're free to go."

"No way," Changbin answered. He could see how tense everyone looked, because of the weapons the gnomes carried. They weren't as dangerous as Vampires, but they were capable hurting people badly when angered.

"We can't give you any human," Chan said.

"Then we will fight," the leader of the gnomes retorted.

Minho stepped forward, bringing one of his spellbooks out. "We can't give him to you, but I'm a Witch. Name anything you want, _apart_ from him, and I'll give it to you guys."

"Why can't I just destroy them instead?" muttered Jeongin under his breath. Woojin just patted his back and fixed him with an expression that told him to 'shut it'.

The gnomes conversed with each other in the closely knit circle that they formed, and then the leader turned back to Minho. "Okay. We want gold. Lots of it."

"Bring out your bags," Minho ordered, and the creatures did as he asked.

Even though Jeongin looked dissatisfied with this outcome, that didn't stop him, and everyone else for that matter, from peering over each other's shoulders to see what Minho was going to do.

" _All of Nature and the wonder it holds, bless these men right here with gold_ ," Minho chanted, before quickly adding other words that sounded like latin. Instantly, everything gold filled the bags of the gnomes to the brim, and the short creatures looked pleasantly surprised.

"Very well, you may go," the leader informed them, his eyes not leaving the gold for one second.

"Let's go now," Woojin told them, and everyone nodded, happy to be free from the gnomes and their numerous weapons.

"See?" Minho clasped his hands, looking very pleased with himself. "They just wanted gold, like everyone else in this world."

"You can give them gold, but you can't just bring us to the tribal mountain?" Jeongin breathed out in disbelief.

"Just be glad that they didn't fight us or take Felix away," Seungmin reasoned, glancing at where Changbin and Felix were behind him.

"They looked so small though," said Felix while hooking his arm with Changbin, "I don't know why they wanted me."

"Gnomes around here usually sacrifice humans," Chan simply stated, and if Felix was drinking water he would've spit it out.

"What?"

Changbin hoped they wouldn't come across any other gnomes for the rest of the time they spent at Faey, because there was no way he was going to let Felix go to them after hearing what Chan said.

_______

 

"What time is it on Earth?" Minho asked, his tone indicating how tired he was. They had all been walking for quite some time now, and although they were definitely closer to where the tribal mountain was located, they still had a long way to go.

 

The bright pastel blue skies had dimmed into this dark orange colour, and the once bright forest now started to have shadows lurking at every corner. The view looked breathtaking, and despite everyone's tired disposition, they had to appreciate that.

 

"Almost 12 PM," Seungmin replied, his tone flat. "Let's take a rest after a few minutes, guys. It's almost nighttime anyway, and I'm tired."

 

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Seungmin's words. They kept on walking until they came across a couple of trees that parted ways to showcase a widely spaced river. It looked deep, and the colour was an indigo shade. The white circular moon reflected on the smooth surface appeared giant, and there were no stars next to it.

 

"Let's gather here for tonight," Chan instructed. "Minho?"

 

Minho groaned, before a campfire suddenly appeared. "You guys are sooo lazy."

 

"We're all tired," replied Woojin, taking a seat on a log and going through the stuff inside his bag. "Seungmin and I have some snacks, because we aren't _lazy_ , like Minho had kindly stated."

 

Seungmin pulled out a blanket and placed it on the ground, seating on it soon after. Chan quickly joined him.

 

"You guys just wait. I'm gonna get the _real_ food," Jeongin said, before taking off his shirt and jumping into the river.

 

"This kid's crazy," Minho uttered.

 

Felix laughed out loud, pulling Changbin closer to him at where they were seated. "How are you?"

 

Changbin watched as Jeongin, now a large grey haired wolf, swam through the water, clearly enjoying himself. "I'm okay." He listened to his heartbeat. It was slow paced, as usual, and he didn't have difficulties breathing, so that was good.

  
"I'm glad," Felix answered with a smile, and when Changbin made eye contact with him, his smile grew into a full grin.

"Why are you grinning?" asked Changbin.

Felix shrugged, before smiling once again. "'Cause I'm with you. It's as simple as that."

Changbin felt his whole face grow warm, and those familiar active butterflies came back again. They'd never leave the half demon, as long as Felix was there. "Will you still be with me if I give you to the gnomes for sacrifice?"

Felix's lovestruck expression morphed into one of horror, and Changbin burst into laughter. The Australian nudged Changbin's ribs with his elbow. "Hey. Don't joke about that please."

Changbin laughed even more, because he knew Felix would probably never look at Gnomes the same way again after today. Seungmin looked his way, raising his eyebrows in obvious confusion as to what was happening.

"I got fish!" Jeongin shouted, now in his human form. He looked like a drenched puppy, and in his hands were fish that squirmed and wriggled around. "I mean, we can fry it and stuff. I'm hungry."

Chan grimaced.

" _Or_...I can just chant a spell that'll give us any food we want," Minho suggested, and Jeongin frowned, looking totally done with Minho.

"I did this, because I didn't want to be called lazy by you, because Magic can't grant stuff that you can do by yourself and blah blah blah. So," Jeongin growled, "we're _all_ eating fish today. Any objections?"

Minho stopped talking.

"Okay fine, whatever. I don't care what I eat anyway," Woojin spoke, looking over the map.

Felix locked eyes with Changbin.

"Crazy?" Changbin whispered. Felix nodded and gave out a carefree, happy laugh that made Changbin's heart swell and have more life in it than it ever had before. He laughed along with Felix, happy that for once in his life, he was free to be who he was with someone that he loved.

_______

 

No one slept for long, but it was enough to give them energy to continue their journey without feeling tired. 

 

Day quickly came, and they were still walking, some of them munching on the snacks that Seungmin and Woojin had brought along.

  
"We are walking. Just walking. One, two, three, walking~" Minho silently sang and hummed, making a song out of something mundane as walking.

No one minded Minho at first, because his voice was oddly soothing, but it was when he started to do fake guitar riffs that Chan had to ask him to stop.

Minho complied, but soon enough, he started again.

Changbin didn't mind him. Minho's voice was pleasing to the ears, and his song kept everyone from feeling bored. The song got especially entertaining when Woojin joined Minho in his singing. They made a joke out of their voices on purpose, and that brightened up the dull atmosphere.

They continued their hilarious singing well into the afternoon, and when everyone stopped walking to catch their breaths.

"What time is it?" Jeongin asked Seungmin.

"In human time or Faey's time?"

"You know what I mean."

"4:45 PM," Seungmin replied.

"God, we have to hurry up then," remarked Woojin, getting up on his feet from the tree roots he'd been seating on. "Before we know it, it'll be night time."

"How far are we from the tribal mountain?" Felix asked Chan.

"We still have to pass a couple of caves and rivers, then we'll get to the base of it. Jungkook said it'll be easy to get to the top of the mountain, since it has stairs to walk on."

Approximately two minutes later, the group started walking again, following the map's direction as they did so.

There were defintely some things to see on their way to the mountain. There were a group of colourful snakes that were living under a large rock that scared the living daylights out of Seungmin when he almost stepped on one of them, and they all spotted many bats when they passed through the caves. There were also many mythical animals and a wide array of flowers to look at that everyone almost got distracted by them anytime they saw them.

"Human time?" Jeongin asked Seungmin, looking at the wild animal that was walking beside him. During the course of their journey, they'd also came across this small animal that looked like a cross between a puppy and a rabbit, and it followed them, especially Jeongin, ever since.

"7:01 PM."

"Okay." Jeongin smiled at the animal next to him. "I shall name you Dorito."

"Now is _not_ the time to be naming animals, Jeongin," Woojin let out, sounding frustrated for some reason. The fact was that he was starting to notice the dwindling energy coming off from Changbin, and although the half demon looked fine on the outside, Woojin knew that something was terribly wrong. "We need to get going."

Chan shot him a worried glance, and Seungmin tried to not stare at Felix and Changbin too much.

Minho and Jeongin started walking too, Dorito happily skipping along in between them.

In a few more minutes, they finally came across the base of the tribal mountain. That was good news. The bad news was that there were currently two fairies talking to each other, and they stopped as soon as they saw them.

Changbin felt anxiety build up in his system at the sight of them, and he worried that they'd be a problem in getting inside that mountain.

"Who are you?" One of the fairies, a tall and lean female, asked them. "And what are you doing here?"

"We came from Earth," Chan replied. "We're all otherworldy creatures, except for Felix, who's human. We just need to use the mountain to help heal Changbin, and we'll be on our way."

"You can't use it," the lean girl said.

The other one, a shorter male, smacked the female's arm. "Tzuyu, stop it." He looked at everyone else. "I'm Jinho. You're only using it for healing, right?"

"Yes," said Jeongin.

Woojin stared at Felix and Changbin again, and knitted his eyebrows at how Changbin seemed to depend more on the Australian to hold him up now.

Jinho smiled. "Good. Too many people use it for their selfish needs. Just hurry up, but there can't be too many people inside there. Other fairies may not be so welcoming if they find you here."

"Minho and I are going," Woojin stated, and met Chan's eyes. "Chan should help Changbin up."

"I'm coming too," Felix told them, before staring down at Changbin. "Binnie?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

Changbin slowly nodded. "I am. Let's get up there."

Woojin stared at Felix warily, before finally nodding. "Okay. Felix, you can come too. Seungmin and Jeongin will keep watch. And thank you, Jinho."

"You're welcome," Jinho answered, and Minho and Woojin started making their way up the stairs, along with Chan, Changbin and Felix.

There weren't many stairs, which was good. Inside the mountain looked more refined and well-built than the outside. The walls were a golden brown colour, and even the ground shone.

"The temple area is right there," Chan said, pointing to an opening on the right. "Only the person getting healed and the people performing the healing are allowed inside."

Minho nodded in understanding, and in a few seconds, Changbin let Felix go, albeit a little reluctantly, and entered the temple with Minho and Woojin by his side.

It was obvious how nervous Felix felt, and he fisted his hands at his sides to stop them from shaking. Chan patted his shoulder and gave him some encouraging words, but they only relieved the Australian a little bit.

He stared inside the temple, seeing Minho and Woojin taking their positions at the corners, and Changbin was lying in the middle, his palms placed on his chest as he stared up at the ceiling.

Changbin felt terrified. His heart raced against his ribcage, and he clasped his hands tightly to stop them from shaking. He quickly shut his eyes, and hoped that all this would be over quickly.

He could hear Woojin's and Minho's voices, but his mind was too occupied to listen to what they were saying. He could feel the flat ground digging into his back, and noticed how the room's temperature started lowering.

And that was when he felt it. That sudden, excruiating pain that made his heart stop.

Alarm bells rang through Felix's head when he heard Changbin's scream. He watched in fear and astounding heartache as Changbin writhed around in blatant discomfort as he clutched the left side of his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Oh--oh my god, Chan," Felix stuttered, looking at the older male with wide eyes, "why is Changbin being l-like this? Is it supposed to--to hurt?"

"It's...it's probably due to the changes taking place in his body," Chan replied, but he looked troubled.

"But he's crying so much. I don't want him to cry."

"Just--don't watch him, alright? It's always hard when this happens. I really wished you would've stayed downstairs with Jeongin and Seungmin."

And Felix tried to, but he failed, every single time. And why were Woojin and Minho taking so long anyway? Felix couldn't stand seeing Changbin suffer any longer.

The temple's light started dimming, grabbing Chan's and Felix's attention immediately. Its previous golden colour turned a dark grey shade, and the only bright spot was where Changbin lay, looking pale and lifeless.

Felix's cheeks were wet, but he didn't notice this. His only concern was Changbin, and it scared him how _dead_ he looked at that moment. Changbin wasn't moving at all.

Did he really lose Changbin? _No_ , he couldn't. He wouldn't--

Felix started walking inside the temple.

"Felix, you can't go inside!" Chan called out, but the Australian wasn't listening to him. He wasn't listening to anyone at all.

Felix ran straight into the circle that Changbin was lying within, just as a beam of light was starting to surround the half demon. He held up Changbin using one arm, and used his free hand to hold Changbin's limp one.

"W-Wake up Changbin. Please, _please_ wake up," Felix begged, but Changbin wasn't responding. Felix didn't care about the fact that the circle was brightening up in a pale blue light, one that ran over the surface of both Changbin's and Felix's arms. All he wanted was for Changbin to open his eyes, and be alive and well. Because that was all he hoped for.

God, why wasn't Changbin _waking up_?

Felix's heart felt like a million glass shards were pressed into it, over and over again. Everything _hurt_. He felt so empty, yet so overwhelmed at the same time.

"Changbin, why aren't you waking up? You promised that you'll be fine, that you'll be okay, remember? I love you..."

Felix stared at his surroundings then, and noticed how dark everything looked around him and Changbin. He and Changbin were the only ones who had light on them. Felix couldn't even see Minho or Woojin.

Changbin didn't wake up, and that reality hurt so much that it was too hard to bear.

_The fact with power and magic is that, for you to get something, you have to give something away_.

Felix wiped away the tears that wouldn't stop forming under his eyes, and he broke down even more since that was what Changbin always did whenever Felix cried; he wiped his tears away.

He softly cupped Changbin's face in his hands, and leaned in to kiss his lips. It was the kind of kiss that screamed hesitance and unwillingness, because Felix was unwilling to let go of Changbin. He _didn't_ want to let go of him.

But

then

he

did.


	22. hide; xxi

The numerous chirps that came from birds pierced into the darkest corners of Changbin's mind, filling his head with them, and them alone. The normally pleasing sound gradually became annoying to hear, and Changbin wanted to block his ears and force the sound to stop, but he just lied there, unable to move.

 

His chest felt light, like he was floating on clouds, and he used his hands to grip the area surrounding him, searching for something, or some _one_.

 

With one deep breath, Changbin's eyes fluttered open, quickly scanning wherever he was. The room looked unfamiliar, and the window on the white walls was open. Rays of light cascaded through the opening, brightening the already lit up room, and a blue bird was perched on a branch next to the window, chirping over and over again. It watched Changbin with its head cocked to the side curiously, and then flew away.

 

A hand slipped into Changbin's own, alerting him of another person's presence next to him. That was when he took sight of his mother's relieved face, and the IV stand next to the bed he was in. Changbin stared at his left wrist, seeing the drip inserted into his vein.

 

"You're okay," Changbin's mother whispered, smiling at him. 

 

"I am..." Changbin slowly nodded, despite feeling a bit confused. How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was when he entered that tribal mountain's temple with Minho and Woojin, and then everything became a blur after that. "...I'm in the hospital." He said while looking at his mother, but it sounded more like a question.

 

"Yes, sweetie," she replied. "You and the rest of your friends came to the house really early yesterday. Said that you were unconscious and needed to go to the hospital, and Chan drove us there. You've been here ever since."

 

That was when Changbin thought about Felix, and his heartbeat accelerated. He mentally scolded himself for not thinking about the Australian before now, and felt himself overwhelmed with anxiety, because _Felix wasn't there_. 

 

Felix said he was going to be the first person Changbin saw when he was better, but he was nowhere to be seen.

 

"Mom, where...is Felix?" Changbin carefully asked, afraid to hear the answer. He didn't want to hear that anything bad happened to Felix during the last twenty four hours. He wanted to see Felix. He _needed_ to see him.

 

"He's not here," his mother replied, her voice low. 

 

Changbin forced himself to seat up, ignoring his mother's worried eyes as he did so. A huge lump formed inside his throat that made it hard for him to speak. "Where...where _is_ he?"

 

"...He's in another room in the hospital. He fell unconscious along with you, so he was brought to the hospital."

 

Changbin was lost for words, and so, so scared. He didn't know what happened to make Felix become unconscious, and he hoped that Felix was okay. He cautiously swung both his legs over the bed, eyeing the IV stand warily.

 

"What--what are you doing?" Changbin's mother asked.

 

"I...I need to see Felix." He proceeded to stand up, surprised that he actually did it when his legs felt so weak. "I need to see him."

 

"You can't leave," replied his mother, "the nurses haven't checked your vitals yet."

 

"I'm going to see him," Changbin finalized, though he had no idea where Felix's room was, and his legs felt like they were a few seconds away from giving way under him. "I-I have to."

 

"Please, Changbin. You're not fully well yet."

 

Changbin bit the inside of his cheek as cold tears stung the brim of his eyes. 

 

The door opened then, and a nurse stepped in, a practiced smile taking over her face at seeing Changbin.

 

Since she was there, there was no use of trying to get past her, Changbin realized. And he probably wouldn't be able to walk five feet without falling to the floor and making a fool out of himself too.

 

He sat back on the bed, feeling smaller and more helpless than he ever felt before. He wanted to cry, to scream, to do _anything_ really, because he wanted to see Felix but couldn't. He was being held back by his body's weakness, so he had no idea if Felix was alright.

 

_______

  
Changbin wasn't allowed to leave the hospital, but he was allowed to leave his room that afternoon. Or what he thought was the afternoon. He couldn't really grasp the concept of time when he was too preoccupied with too many thoughts in his mind.

His fingers wrapping around his IV stand, he stepped out of the suffocating room with his mother by his side, watching his every move. Patients lined the hallways and talked to each other on the benches, and some looked his way, but Changbin didn't care about that. He knew he was bare faced, but for the first time in a long time, he didn't care that they saw that he was a demon hybrid. That fact seemed so insignificant next to what he was currently going through, and the only thing that mattered right now was seeing Felix and knowing that he was okay.

"He's in room 76," Changbin's mother told him a minute into their walking.

Changbin wordlessly nodded, his grip on the stand tightening so much that he swore he'd break it if he wasn't careful. His mouth felt dry, and his legs still felt heavy even though he was able to walk better now. In the midst of all the seemingly happy patients, he felt like he was alone, and that he was burdening his mother by getting himself into this situation in the first place. She was supposed to be at work now, but here she was with Changbin, who wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone.

Changbin hated hospitals, and he always would. It was a place of death and misery, and the fact that he and Felix were now associated with that kind of thing made him both angry at himself and at the world.

Room 76 was open, and as Changbin peered inside, his heart sank when he saw no one inside. The room was completely void of anyone, and the interior felt so cold and impersonal that it seemed like no one had spent time in there at all.

"F-Felix isn't there," Changbin said, looking at his mother. She looked as confused as he felt, and her eyebrows gathered together at the middle.

"He...he must've left. I saw his parents last night."

_Or he isn't alive anymore,_ a voice inside Changbin's head whispered, but a very huge part of himself hoped that wasn't the case. His hands formed fists, his fingers digging into the skin of his palms.

Changbin's mother must've sensed the resignment in her son's demeanor that she placed her hand on his shoulder, making him look at her.

"He can be at the canteen. Many people are in there at this hour," she suggested, and Changbin nodded.

His legs felt lighter with every step he took, maybe because of the newfound determination that flowed through his veins at the chance that Felix would be inside the canteen. Changbin had never been there before, but as his mother led him there, his pulse increased just by looking at the people inside that canteen.

There were too many people in that wide area of space, but there was no Felix. No matter how hard Changbin searched, he couldn't spot Felix anywhere. He longed to see Felix's face again, to see his familiar caramel coloured hair, and to be at the receiving end of one of Felix's gorgeous smiles. But there wasn't any of that. Instead, there were bland empty walls and an array of different unknown faces.

Changbin didn't think a heart was physically capable of breaking apart, but at that moment, his heart felt like it had.

Maybe Felix _had_ gone home, but if that was the case, Changbin guessed he wouldn't see Felix for a while, because who knew when he was getting discharged? But then, Felix should've visited him already. He should've been there when Changbin woke up. He should have been the one holding Changbin's hand.

"Changbin!"

The voice startled both Changbin and his mother, and Changbin spun around to find the person who had just called him.

Seungmin's grin greeted his vision, and Minho waved at Changbin from where he stood next to Seungmin. They looked so happy to see him, and Changbin felt that way too, but his heart still felt heavy, and that tightness in his throat wouldn't leave.

"Hi, guys," Changbin greeted, making his way towards them whilst dragging the IV stand along with him, his mother by his side.

"Hey Changbin and Ms Seo," Minho grinned, before staring right at Changbin. "We were looking _everywhere_ for you. We thought you'd left, or that you were still unconscious."

"I'm okay now. Thanks," Changbin replied. He figured Woojin and Minho had succeeded in healing him, even if he ended up in a hospital as a result, so why was Felix admitted to the hospital in the first place?

"Where..." Changbin tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but all to no avail, "Where is Felix?"

Seungmin turned around. "He's on his way with Chan, Woojin and Jeongin. At least I think so."

Minho smacked the Elf's chest. "Felix _is_ coming. He like, almost fell off his bed earlier because he wanted to see you, and then we passed different places to see if you were there after he was free to leave his room."

"We were looking for you too," Changbin's mother answered, because Changbin couldn't find it in himself to say anything. Hope and instant happiness clouded the half demon's head, because Felix was _alive_ , and he was looking for him too.

"Oh look, there they are," Seungmin said, looking behind him. Changbin slowly followed his eyes, and his heart sped at a pace that could only be described as insane when he came across Felix.

The Australian was adorned in hospital scrubs and his hair was slightly touseled, but he still looked amazing. He wasn't looking Changbin's way since Woojin was telling him something, and he was frowning.

"Guys!" Seungmin exclaimed, catching the attention of some of the patients. Minho told him to shut up.

Seungmin's sentence was also enough to catch Felix's attention, and his steps quickened, only stopping when his eyes met Changbin's own pair.

"C-Changbin?" Felix let out, his normally calm sounding voice holding emotions in it.

Changbin couldn't believe that Felix was right there, calling him by his name.

_Come on Changbin,_ his mind scolded him, _do something_.

But he couldn't move.

He didn't have to worry though, because Felix took the initiative for both of them. In swift movements, Felix's arms were around Changbin, his hands clinging to Changbin's hospital clothes for dear life.

"I--I thought I lost you," Felix stammered, his face buried in Changbin's shoulder. Changbin used his free arm to hug Felix's shoulder, and his tight throat let out a choked sob at Felix's words.

"Me too, Felix..." Changbin admitted. His tears were pooling on the surface of Felix's scrubs, but they weren't tears of sadness. No, they were a result of Changbin's happiness. The fact that Felix was there, his arms wrapped around Changbin's waist in that comfortable and secure way that Changbin always loved, with his head on Changbin's shoulder while laughing and crying at the same time, saying how glad he was that Changbin was okay, because that was all he hoped for all along; for Changbin to be _okay,_ made the half demon's lips stretch into a full grin, even if tears were still running down his face. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you so much too, Binnie. I love you," Felix replied. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

And slowly but surely, the broken pieces of Changbin's heart started mending themselves once more.

"I love you too Felix. So much."

_______

 

"How did you also end up in the hospital?" Changbin asked Felix once they were alone. It was night, and the hall they sat in was lit up with fluorescent bulbs that were too obnoxiously bright. 

 

Felix looked at his hands, his left wrist holding an IV drip that looked identical to Changbin's own, and fisted them. "I...I don't know, actually. I thought I died..."

 

"But you didn't," Changbin cut in. "I'm so glad you didn't."

 

Felix smiled at the shorter male. "I--when you were in that temple with Woojin and Minho, you were crying. A lot. I...I can still remember how sad you sounded, and I couldn't bear seeing you in some much pain." Felix inhaled a breath, before adding, "So I went inside."

 

Changbin's eyes were wide when he looked at the Australian. "Really? But you couldn't do that."

 

"I--I knew that. But I didn't care at that moment. I just ran in and held you. You weren't responding to me, and your heart wasn't beating either. I-I was so scared, because I didn't want you to die. Something strange happened afterwards. A blue kind of light ran up your arms until it got to where I held your hand, and then it...spread through the veins on our wrists. At least I think it did. It was weird, and I passed out right after, that's what Chan told me."

 

Changbin stared at his wrists, but there was nothing on them to indicate what Felix had spoken about. His veins looked normal. He held Felix's right hand and stared at it.

 

"What are you looking for?" Felix asked.

 

"The blue light you were talking about."

 

Felix lightly shoved Changbin to the side a little bit. "There's no light there, obviously."

 

Changbin rubbed the shoulder that the Australian had shoved, since he'd gotten an injection there earlier. "Ow."

 

"I'm sorry," Felix quickly apologized, seeing as Changbin was affected by his little push, and then placed a hand on his own shoulder, mindlessly running his palm over it. "My shoulder kind of hurts too."

 

"Did you get an injection there too?" asked Changbin.

 

Felix shook his head, before shrugging. "It just started now. Don't worry, it'll go soon." He folded an arm over the bench and turned to face Changbin squarely. "Have you eaten dinner yet?"

 

"I have." Changbin smiled when Felix stroked the side of his face. "Have _you_?"

 

"My parents already bought me something. Did you know they think you and I had a skating accident that knocked both of us out?"

 

Changbin chuckled, copying Felix's position. They were only a few inches away from each other now, and both boys didn't mind it at all. "Really?" 

  
Felix grinned, the sight catching Changbin off-guard for a couple of seconds because of how breathtaking the human looked. "Yeah. Really." He poked Changbin's cheek. "You aren't wearing that mask anymore. And your eyes look great, by the way."

Changbin shook his head. "They don't." He was pretty sure his face was a bright red colour by now, especially with the way Felix was staring at him. "...What?"

Felix drew nearer and placed his lips on Changbin's own, and Changbin's head and heart spun in both anticipation and satisfaction. He shut his eyes as Felix's lips molded perfectly with his, his fingers trailing down Changbin's arms which made the half demon feel hot all over.

They were well aware that they were kissing in an hospital hallway, and there was a high chance that someone might come along and spot them, but they didn't care. Not when they were back together again after they'd thought they'd never see each other again.

_______

 

Changbin got discharged from the hospital around the same time that Felix got discharged, which was on a Thursday. 

 

They hung out as soon as they got to their homes, not spending even a second apart, and spent the next day at Chan's apartment, because he said he wanted to talk to them.

  
As soon as they entered, Woojin ordered them to seat on the couch, and everyone else gathered around them.

"Why are you guys so serious?" Felix asked in a light tone. "Is this bad news?"

"No. It's not," said Woojin, furrowing his brows. "I'm just curious. As we all know, Felix entered that temple just as soon as the spell was almost complete, and he touched Changbin while doing so. You guys are lucky that nothing bad happened to you because of what you did, Felix."

"I...I know. But I was scared."

"Changbin could've died," Seungmin added.

"I felt like he did..." Felix whispered, glancing at Changbin who'd been silent this whole time. "When I held him...he felt so cold. And he was so pale too. I was so terrified."

"We saw it too," Minho said. "The weird thing was how dark the temple got after what Felix did. It felt like everything was over."

"Night _was_ coming, afterall," Jeongin spoke. "That could be the reason."

"Maybe," Chan said, folding his arm. He stared at Minho. "What was it about the blue light that you wanted to talk about?"

"Seeing a blue light after casting a spell usually means rebirth, or a drastic change. It can also stands for the soul's fate."

"One that note, let's see your hands," Woojin instructed both Felix and Changbin, and they did as he asked.

Woojin took out a pin, and without warning, pricked Changbin's palm, drawing a slight hiss out of the demon hybrid. Almost a second later, Felix gripped his own hand as if Woojin had pricked him instead.

Minho flashed an accomplished smile. "Looks like we've found the answer."

"What is it?" Changbin asked.

"I think that when that blue light passed through your hand and Felix's hand, some kind of energy was transferred. Changbin could've died, but since he's alive, _something_ had to given away. That's where _you_ come in, Felix."

"You aren't in control of your soul's fate anymore," Woojin continued. "Your fate's eternally intertwined with Changbin's own, so Changbin's basically living off of you now. Whatever happens to him, happens to you too, and vice versa. So if he dies, you die."

"Like... _soulmates_?" Jeongin questioned.

"For lack of a better word, yes," Minho concluded. He looked at Felix and Changbin, monitoring their reactions to what he and Woojin just said.

"So...we can't let each other get hurt?" Felix asked after a long moment of silence.

"No. I mean, you'll always get sick with the flu and all that, so you guys can't avoid that. But you can take extra precautionary measures in order to protect each other."

Changbin felt Felix's eyes on him, his heart skipping a beat when the Australian covered his hand with his in a gesture that felt extremely comforting.

Felix would be there for Changbin through it all, and everyone could see that. Changbin could see it too. Now that their fates were connected, they had to be extra careful now, but everything would work out.

Everything would always work out in the end.


	23. hide; xxii

It was a week later that Changbin and Felix had to go back to school. The principal and teachers had been notified about them staying at an hospital, so they'd be getting extra notes and taking tests to make up for all the classes they'd missed.

Changbin didn't want to go back to school just yet, but he knew he couldn't afford to miss any more classes, even more so that exam season was coming. He was a person that liked having good grades in any situation, and he wasn't about to start changing that now.

Changbin was also nervous about seeing his classmates, especially Jisung. The last time he saw them was at that Halloween party, and after all that craziness that happened he didn't know what would happen in school when he stepped in today.

"You know, you can stay home for another day or two," Changbin's mother told him that Monday morning as Changbin checked his bag to make sure all his books for the day were present. "I don't want you to over exert yourself."

Changbin smiled at her. "It's okay mom. I'm fine now."

Still, she looked worried, but eventually managed to reciprocate Changbin's smile. "...Okay, Changbin. At least Felix is going to be with you."

Changbin quickly put on his mask to cover up the fact that heat had risen to his cheeks. Even if he hadn't explicitly told his mother that he and Felix were dating, she already knew that they were certainly more than friends, and she was okay with that. "I...I guess."

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door and Changbin's mother quickly went to open it before Changbin realized what was happening.

"Good morning, Felix," she greeted with a grin, and Felix grinned back before stepping into the house.

"Good morning, mom." Felix started calling Changbin's mother 'Mom' for the past few days, and Changbin didn't exactly know how or when it started. Changbin's mother didn't mind it.

Butterflies skidded across Changbin's stomach when he felt Felix's presence next to him.

"Hello, neighbour."

"'Sup, Lix," Changbin replied, hugging Felix tightly. Felix laughed, leaning his head on Changbin's shoulder.

"You actually gave me a nickname," the Australian whispered, "I'm proud."

With Felix holding him so affectionally, and how amazing he smelt (Changbin wasn't being creepy, promise), Changbin felt like he was on cloud nine. All the worries he had concerning his school vanished, at least temporarily, and he felt like he could face everything, because Felix was there.

Because Felix would always be there.

"Don't you guys have school to go to or something?" Changbin's mother interrupted, smiling softly at the both of them.

"Oh. Yeah," Felix giggled, grabbing his backpack off a chair.

Changbin also took his bag, and when he passed his mother she patted his back and wished both boys a good day at school. The half demon really wanted that to be the case.

"You're still wearing that mask and beanie," Felix commented after they'd passed Felix's house (his parents had happily greeted them before heading back inside). He stared at Changbin. "It's--it's not like I don't like it, but I just wished you'd be more confident in your looks, you know?" Felix's voice got lower and lower as he finished his sentence, almost as if he was afraid of angering or upsetting his boyfriend.

But Changbin wasn't mad. He sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm more comfortable with exposing my face now than I was before. I'll get more confident, I promise."

"I--I'm not forcing you to do anything, though," Felix quickly responded. "It's whenever you're ready to. I'll still love you the same anyway."

Changbin looked away to hide the fact that he was smiling, but it was of no use anyway, because his eyes easily revealed how happy he was, and Felix had already spotted them.

"You're too cute," Felix admitted.

Changbin shook his head.  "Demons aren't cute."

"Of course they are. _You're_ cute."

Changbin didn't bother arguing with Felix anymore, because it was pointless changing Felix's view of something once he made up his mind, and because a hidden part of Changbin actually liked being called cute, especially by Felix.

_______

  
Something that Changbin defintely expect once he entered his school with Felix was how many people _ignored_ him. Sure, there were some stares here an there, but no one had outwardly glared at him or talked about him in the hallways.

If Felix noticed this too, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he looked content with everything, and continued seating beside Changbin in all their shared classes, as usual.

The first half of the day was strangely silent, which caused Changbin to feel on edge. He felt like something bad was going to happen any moment from now, and wondered if Jisung or Jaeha were planning something against him.

Oddly enough, Jaeha didn't glare holes into his head or talk behind his back like she usually did, and Jisung, for the most part, ignored him.

There was a time when Changbin was partnered up with Jisung for an assignment again during Physics that morning, and they managed to go over the assignment without Jisung saying any snide remarks to him.

It was when Physics was almost over that Jisung shut his textbook and stared at Changbin.

Changbin looked back at him. "...What?"

"Don't you notice anything weird today?" asked Jisung.

That question spiked up Changbin's heart rate, because Jisung seemed suspicious with the way he was staring at Changbin. It was as if he knew more than he let on. "...I do." He breathed in before adding, "No one's staring at me...or talking about me that much."

"That's right." Jisung looked satisfied. "Look, meet me at the library at lunch today."

Changbin's eyes widened, because he definitely didn't expect the vampire to say that. "Why? I'm going to be with Felix."

"He's gonna meet with his dance club's teacher this afternoon," Jisung cut in. "You better come."

His words were like a threat, but his tone didn't hold enough malice to make it sound like one.

Changbin sighed, before agreeing. He wanted to get this meeting with Jisung over with so he could move on with his life, and he also wondered if Jisung had anything to do with how the students were behaving.

Some minutes later, the bell signaling lunch period rang, and students started pooling out the door. Jisung casted a passing glance at Changbin before leaving himself, and when everyone left, Changbin exited the classroom, holding his bag in his hands.

The half demon nearly tripped over his feet when someone suddenly hugged him from behind. When he heard that familiar mischievous chuckle however, Changbin immediately knew who the person was.

"Hello buttercup," Felix mumbled, pecking Changbin's neck.

The temperature suddenly rose, which Changbin didn't mean to do, by the way. He usually lost control like this whenever Felix did something heartwarmingly cute. However, the warmth was welcome, and Changbin could see Felix's bright grin.

"'Buttercup'? That's a new one," Changbin said. He was unable to stop his growing smile too, and he smiled even more when Felix planted another tender kiss on his neck.

"Yup! It's cute, isn't it?"

"It is." Changbin smiled when Felix stood in front of him.

Felix slipped his hand in Changbin's own, before saying, "I have to meet my dance club's teacher in a few minutes. I'll see you later, I promise."

"It's okay. I'm gonna head to the library," answered Changbin. He watched as Felix nodded and left, and walked in the direction of the library, a bit nervous as to what exactly Jisung was going to talk to him about.

Jisung wasn't anywhere in the library when Changbin entered. The demon hybrid sighed, before seating at the back and placing his bag next to his desk. Other people surrounded him, but like earlier, no one looked at him and they minded their own business. If they did though, they possessed no hatred in their gazes. Even the librarian smiled at him once.

It got really weird when Hyunjin, of all people, emerged from one of the library's bookshelves and told Changbin that he hoped he was feeling better now.

"Uh--yeah..." Changbin replied, and Hyunjin nodded at him, before leaving the library.

A few seconds later, Jisung walked in and quickly sat in front of Changbin, leaning back into his chair. "I'm glad you're here."

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Changbin asked, straight to the point.

"I know you and your friends erased my memory at that Halloween party. I know this because Vampires regain their lost memories pretty quickly, so what your friend Minho did was pretty pointless."

"So..." Changbin unsurely started, "what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

Changbin watched Jisung. " _Nothing_?"

"Obviously, I was mad when you guys did that, but I guess I'm... _thankful_?" Jisung scratched his head, suddenly looking meeker than he'd ever looked before. "My brother, Jiwon, was the one probably controlling me. He was the one who made me host that party in the first place, because he wanted his other Vampire friends to feed on humans, and he also wanted Jaeha's blood, since an Angel's blood makes Vampires stronger and more powerful. If he ended up crossing that portal on the roof, he probably would've put everyone in danger, _including_ me. No wonder he's banished from entering this world." Jisung laughed for a short while, before his face went blank again. "Just--thanks, I guess."

"I...You're welcome." It was safe to say that Changbin was tongue-tied. He had no idea what else to say, as he and Jisung weren't exactly friends, but, they weren't enemies either, at least from the way Jisung was addressing him.

Jisung nodded. "And, to show my thanks, I made everyone nice to you."

"So you put everyone under your mind control," stated Changbin. Although it felt refreshing to not feel judgemental eyes on him for once, everything felt orchestrated, because their kindness and tolerance _wasn't real_.

"I did. I removed all their judgement and prejudice, so now they can stop being assholes."

"What about you? Did you make yourself nicer too?" Changbin asked in a sort of joking tone of voice, but Jisung just smirked.

"I was always nice. I just don't show it often, Demon. Don't misuse my kindness."

Changbin found himself smiling. Though Jisung had his less than great sides, he still kind of cared about Changbin, in his own weird and unusual way. "Thanks, Jisung."

"You're welcome."

"What are you guys talking about?" A new voice joined the conversation, and Changbin looked up to see Felix standing there.

The Australian was watching Jisung, and even though he didn't look angry, he still looked bothered by Jisung being there.

"Hey," Jisung greeted, giving a little wave.

"What did you tell Changbin? If you do anything bad to him I swear I'll--"

"Relax, Felix," Jisung cut in, raising his hands in surrender, "I'm not stealing your boyfriend, okay? We were just talking."

"About what?" Felix asked, clearly on edge.

"Felix, it's okay," Changbin reassured him, "Jisung is nice now. Kind of."

"I don't believe it."

Jisung scoffed, but he was smiling. "Well, I'm better now. Believe it or not." He pushed his chair back to stand up. "See you guys later."

Felix immediately took Jisung's seat after the vampire left, and clasped Changbin's hands with his. "Did he do anything bad to you?"

"No baby," Changbin answered. With the way Felix's hands were resting on top of his, he realized how synchronized his and Felix's pulses were. Their veins pumped blood at the same pace, and Changbin was pretty sure Felix noticed that too. "Jisung just told me how everyone's now nicer to me because he made them stop being so judgemental."

Felix smiled at Changbin, his tense shoulders relaxed, and he exhaled a short sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I guess he _is_ nicer now. But I'm still wary of him."

"Me too. But, I'm glad he did this." Changbin folded his arms on the table and lay his head on them. "Feels so good not to have everyone watching me like a freak for once..."

Felix copied Changbin's action. Their faces were just mere centimeters apart now, that Changbin could see the light brown tint in Felix's eyes. They looked mesmerizing. "You're not a freak, Changbin. You're an amazing and kindhearted and beautiful person, inside and out. And," Felix smiled, "you're an incredible boyfriend, one that I'm glad to have by my side. Love you."

Changbin smiled, trying his hardest not to tear up. "Really?"

Felix nodded. "Yeah, really." Changbin stared into his eyes, and for a second, Felix's brown eyes had a hint of _red_ in them. Then Felix blinked, and the colour was gone. He sat up, grabbing his bag. "Let's go and get some food. It's lunch, after all."

Changbin ignored his racing heart, figuring that he must've imagined Felix with red eyes. _He_ had red eyes, so they must've reflected on Felix's own. Yeah, that had to be it.

"Okay. Let's go," Changbin replied, standing up with Felix.

_______

 

"It's a full moon, so I wonder what Jeongin's doing," Felix asked out loud while Changbin ran a hand through the Australian's hair. They on the bench at the back of Changbin's house that night, and Felix had made himself comfortable on Changbin's thighs.

 

"Probably going crazy in a forest or something with his other Werewolf friends," answered Changbin, and Felix laughed.

 

The taller landed a hand on the bottom half of Changbin's lips and stroked it.

 

Changbin's stomach became invaded with numerous butterflies. "What do you want?" 

  
Felix smiled. "Kiss me. Please?"

Changbin bent down, connecting his and Felix's lips together. The kiss was kind of awkward due to their positions, and Felix started giggling a few seconds into the kiss like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Changbin pulled away and started giggling too, before Felix sat up and pulled into a more comfortable and longer kiss.

When they pulled apart to get some oxygen, Changbin's eyes widened immensely.

Felix's eyes were a bright red. They glowed red for a few seconds, before dimming out. "What?"

"Your eyes."

"They turned red again, right? They were like that since Saturday."

"Wait--you _knew_ all this time?"

"Uh," Felix nodded, "yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you. I was kind of scared." He rubbed the nape of his neck. "They get like that after I spend time with you."

Changbin bit his lip in thought. When he and Felix practically _shared_ souls at that tribal mountain, did that mean that Felix was turning into who he was too? "Do you--do you think you're turning into a... _Demon_?"

Felix shrugged. "...I don't know. But I won't mind anyway, since I have you." He wrapped an arm around Changbin and hugged him. "...Do you also feel that?"

Their hearts were beating quickly against their ribcages, not being out of sync for one second.

"I do," Changbin nodded. He rested his hands on Felix's back and smiled. "Our hearts are...basically the same now."

"Yeah," Felix whispered. "I love it. I love _you_. You know that right?"

"Of course I do. And uh, can you like, get off me because you're kind of crushing my thighs."

Felix loudly laughed, hitting Changbin's shoulder. "Shut up. I'm not that heavy."

"I was just kidding," Changbin said with a smile. "And I love you too, Lix."

Felix placed his arms around Changbin's neck and kissed Changbin again, the half demon responding to him in less than a second. He melted into the kiss when Felix drove it into a more passionate direction.

As they spent the rest of the night talking and laughing without a care in the world, the bright full moon watched over them from above, and if they had listened closely, they would've been able to hear a faint howl reverberating through the cold night air.


End file.
